Wozniacki beats Li in Hong Kong

HONG KONG – World number one Caroline Wozniacki crushed China’s top player Li Na in straight sets yesterday, taking the Europeans to a 2-0 lead over Asia at Hong Kong’s World Team Challenge.

The 20-year-old Dane, who has yet to win a Grand Slam, threw down the gauntlet to her rivals ahead of the Australian Open with an ice-cool display which saw her dispatch the world number 11 in the season-opening exhibition.’It was a great match and good preparation for the Australian Open,’ she said. Wozniacki and Li held serve in a close-fought first seven games until the Danish sensation broke the deadlock to break in the eighth.Li was unable to deal with Wozniacki’s blistering forehand and dropped another service game to concede the first set 6-4.The Chinese number one started the second set more consistently and appeared to have shaken off a tendency to commit unforced errors as she went 3-0 up.But Wozniacki demonstrated the kind of tenacity which saw her take her 12th WTA title in Beijing in October, staging an impressive comeback to level the set at 3-3 before turning the thumbscrews to win 6-3.Wozniacki was runner-up at the 2009 US Open and made it to the fourth round of last year’s Australian Open. But with no Grand Slam wins and one major final on her resume, bookmakers are likely to prefer three-time US Open champion Kim Clijsters for the Melbourne tournament, which starts on January 17.The Hong Kong curtain-raiser features four teams with three players each – representing Russia, Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific – in singles and mixed doubles play. The tournament wraps up Saturday.- Nampa-AFP