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Former champion at Roland Garros looking forward to grass at Wimbledon
An obviously disappointed Li Na remains upbeat about her tennis future despite being upset by unheralded Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova in the fourth round of the French Open on Monday night (Beijing time).
The defending champion at Roland Garros Squandered a first-set lead to eventually fall to the world's No 142-ranked player 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Li left Court Suzanne Lenglen quickly after the loss, much to the chagrin of her Chinese fans and awaiting media.
The No 7 seed then entered the post-match conference room in a gloomy mood, and snapped answers which made the area quite tense.
"I just lost a match and that's nothing special. So don't try to put me down," Li was quoted as saying by AFP. "I can't find why I couldn't hit the ball back on the court. I will find out, but not today."
The 30-year-old conceded the last 10 games while making 41 unforced errors in the match - 20 more than Shvedova - to lose in a last-set meltdown.
However, Li said she was content with her French Open performance despite missing out on the chance to become the first repeat women's champion on the clay courts at Roland Garros since Belgian great Justine Henin in 2006-07.
"Winning here last year doesn't mean anything today. I don't feel I played bad this year. I fought into the last 16, so I won't let it push me down. I will not lose my confidence," Li said.
Shrugging off the pressure of more than a billion supporters, who are keen to see her claim another major title after a half-year slump, Li says she has adjusted to her new life under the microscope.
She has cut back her schedule and has managed to refocus on training despite regular media and sponsorship assignments.
After withdrawing from events in Paris and Dubai due to a back injury in February, Li made four consecutive quarterfinals - at Indian Wells and Miami in the US and Stuttgart and Madrid in Europe - before finishing runner-up in Rome a week before the French Open.
"I experienced so much last year. Honors and commercial success suddenly came up and threw my life off track," said Li. "But I am grateful for what I went through last year. All that made me stronger inside and now I can shoulder what I couldn't before."
Li's unexpected loss to a qualifier shocked her loyal fans back in China.
In a survey on sohu.com. 44.91 percent of the respondents (2276 votes) said, "Li lost because she didn't prepare well mentally", while 62.23 percent of the participants stressed they felt Li's performance in Paris was "unsatisfactory".
However, Li's former Danish coach, Michael Mortensen, is confident the Hubei native will bounce back.
"I think she can still crack the top five and even become the world No 1," Mortensen told sina.com during Li's first set against Shvedova.
Renowned commentator Zhan Jun, working with ESPN Star, said Li needed to improve her serve to perform well at Wimbledon and the London Olympics.
Leading up to Wimbledon, Li will take several days off to refresh herself and will arrive at the All-England Club a week early to acclimatize to the change of surface from clay to grass.
"I need some time to recover. I am not a machine. Hopefully, I can do better at Wimbledon than last year," Li said.
Although she crashed out in the second round of Wimbledon last year to Germany's Sabine Lisicki, Li is uncomfortable on grass as she made the quarters twice at Wimbledon - in 2006 and 2010 - and won the grass-court crown at Birmingham in 2010.
"Actually, I am good on grass so I am confident about Wimbledon and I am really looking forward to the Olympics. It will be my last chance to play the Games and I expect a better result than Beijing," said Li, who finished fourth at the 2008 Games.
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