Quotes from Serena’s Defeat of Li Na

Written by: Staff on 27th October 2013

Quotes from Serena's Defeat of Li Na

epa03927272 Winner Serena Williams of the US (L) and runner-up Na Li of China hold their trophies during the award ceremony for the WTA Championships tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 27 October 2013. EPA/SEDAT SUNA |

TEB BNP PARIBAS WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS – ISTANBUL

Istanbul, Turkey

October 22-October 27, 2013

$6,000,000/Season-Ending Championships

Hard/Indoors

Results – Sunday, October 27, 2013

Singles – Final

(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. (4) Li Na (CHN) 26 63 60

Doubles – Final

(2) Hsieh/Peng (TPE/CHN) d. Makarova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS) 64 75

Final Facts

– Williams wins her fourth WTA Championships, having also won in 2001, 2009 and 2012; she is the fourth player to win the tournament four or more times (after Evert, Navratilova and Graf).

– Williams wins the 57th title of her career; 13 more than any other active player and the seventh most in history.

– Williams won a WTA-leading 11 titles in 2013; she is the first player since Hingis in 1997 to collect 11 or more titles in a single season.

– Williams’ win-loss record in finals now stands at 57-17, and 34-11 in hardcourt finals.

– Williams is the first player since Henin in 2007 to defend the title.

– Williams is the oldest player, at 32, to win the tournament since its launch in 1972.

– Williams has now won 15 consecutive matches at the tournament; only Navratilova, who won 21 in a row between 1983 and 1987, has posted a longer streak.

– Williams improves to 10-1 head-to-head against Li, having won their last nine meetings.

– Williams has now won 32 of her last 34 matches against Top 5 players; her only defeats in that period, which dates back to Wimbledon 2011, were to Azarenka.

– Williams finishes the year with a 78-4 record and a .951 winning percentage – the best since Graf’s .977 in 1989.

– Li was making her WTA Championships final debut, having lost in the round robin stage on her previous two appearances; she falls to 7-11 in WTA finals, and 5-6 in hardcourt finals.

– Williams will finish the year at No.1 for the third time in her career (also 2002 and 2009), while Li will rise to a career-high No.3 when then post-tournament rankings are released.

– Hsieh and Peng win the WTA Championships on their tournament debut.

– Hsieh and Peng win their ninth WTA title together and fifth of 2013; Hsieh now has 14 career titles to her name, while Peng has 12.

– Hsieh and Peng maintain their unbeaten record in WTA finals, which began in Bali in 2008.

Final Quotes

Serena Williams: “I don’t know how I got through that one. I’ve just had a really long year, and I’m just really excited, honestly. I really didn’t expect to get through this match today. I’m just overjoyed, to be honest. It’s really awesome. It’s such a special moment. To finish the year No.1 in the world and win this title after 40 years of the WTA, it means even more.”

Li Na: “At the start of the match, maybe I was feeling too excited. So after one set and a half I felt like I had no more energy left. I have a little bit of a bad taste, because it’s 6-0 in the third set, but I still feel more positive things than negative. At least in the whole match I was using a lot of serve and volleying. I was trying as much as I could to come to the net. So it was an improvement there and I’m still happy overall.”

Hsieh Su-Wei: “The most important thing today was that she was doing her job at the baseline, and I was doing my job at the net. I don’t think I can help a lot at the baseline so it was important that I was up at the net finishing the points. That was our game plan today and it really worked.”

Peng Shuai: “We really enjoyed playing together this year. We had a really good time together on the court – we fought sometimes, but it was still a lot of great memories, just the whole experience!”

For Results

http://www.wtatennis.com/scores-and-stats

For Draws

http://www.wtatennis.com/draws-and-schedule

Topics: 10sballs, Hsieh Su-Wei, Li Na, Peng Shuai, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka, Wimbledon, Wta