Chinese star Li Na will take a break from tennis otherwise the sport will “kill” her after she was sent crashing out of the US Open on Friday by teenage British giant-killer Laura Robson.
Ninth seed Li was beaten in the third round 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 by 18-year-old Robson, the world No.89, who had also defeated triple US Open champion Kim Clijsters in the previous round.
“I can’t go back on the practice court straightaway. I have to take some days off otherwise this will kill me,” said 30-year-old Li.
The two hour 25 minute defeat meant it’s the first time since 2008 that Li has not reached at least the quarter-finals at any Slam during a season.
“I will have to talk to my team,” she said. “Maybe they can see things clearer on the court and we can plan for the next step.”
Top seed Victoria Azarenka later eased into fourth round with a 6-0 6-1 thrashing of China’s 28th seed Zheng Jie and will next face Georgia’s Ana Tatishvili, who beat Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 7-5 6-0.
Australia’s defending champion Samantha Stosur (seventh seed) downed American Varvara Lepchenko (31st seed) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2, while a host of other seeds safely advanced.
Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli (11th seed) beat compatriot Kristina Mladenovic 6-2 6-4 and Czech Petra Kvitova (fifth seed) downed France’s Pauline Parmentier 6-4 6-4.
Russia’s Maria Sharapova (third seed) crushed American Mallory Burdette 6-1 6-1 while another Russian Nadia Petrova (19th seed) overpowered Czech Lucie Safarova (15th seed) 6-4 7-5.
Robson became the first British woman to make the last 16 in New York since Jo Durie in 1991 and will face Stosur for a place in the quarter-finals.
She is also the first British woman in the last 16 of any Grand Slam since Sam Smith reached the Wimbledon fourth round in 1998. Smith was also the last British player to beat a woman inside the top 10 during that same Wimbledon run.
“She has a big serve but I made most of the mistakes that gave her more confidence and let her think that she could beat me,” added Li.
“I gave her a lot of free points. I wasn’t happy about the way I played.”
Li believes that Robson can pose a tough challenge for Stosur.
“If she continues like this, then she can beat other players. It’s up to her. It all depends on the opponent.”
Robson, the youngest player in the world top 100 and the 2008 Wimbledon junior champion, showed few signs of nerves as she swept into the fourth round of a major for the first time.
Her win over Li was her first victory against a top-10 player and was her second successive victory over a Grand Slam title winner after sending four-time major champion Clijsters into retirement on Wednesday.
