Fifth seed Anna Chakvetadze lost 7-6(7) 6-4 in the second round of the $2.5 million Qatar Total Open to China’s world No.29 Na Li.
This is Chakvetadze’s second consecutive early exit from a tournament since winning the Open Gaz the France earlier this month. Chakvetadze was upset in the second round of the last week’s Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp when she lost to Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson.
This upset at the Qatar Total Open is not a big surprise. Na Li was ranked 16th in the world before a serious rib injury sidelined her for six months last year. At the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts, her first tournament since the return to tennis, Li won the title having defeated three top 20 players — Sybille Bammer, Nicole Vaidisova, and Patty Schnyder– on the way for the first time in her career. Also, last week in Antwerp, Li was a semifinalist.
I can mention that Li set up a match with Chakvetadze with a first round win over Elena Likhovtseva, who won the second set 6-0, but Li managed to come back and win the match 6-1, 0-6, 6-4.
Na Li next faces either Virginie Razzano or twelfth seed Shahar Peer.
