李娜连下九局逆转德新星，辛辛那提赛李娜胜科贝尔夺冠

Bob

中新网8月20日电北京时间8月20日凌晨，“中国一姐”李娜终于获得了本赛季的第一个个人单打冠军。在总奖金额为2,168,400美元的WTA超5赛事辛辛那提西南财团公开赛上，娜姐在极端不利的情况下连下9局，最终以1-6/6-3/6-1逆转德国新人科贝尔，打破了自去年法网夺冠后长达14个月的冠军荒，也实现了生涯首度在超五系列赛(级别仅次于大满贯和四大皇冠赛)上折桂的突破。

比赛伊始，科贝尔状态出色，以Love Game保发开局，并一度取得3-0的领先。这时的李娜才慢慢找回状态，保发后追回一局。但科贝尔在优势局面下并不手软，成功保发后又通过高压球逼得两个破发点。李娜奋力反击但无奈落后差距太大，早早陷入1-5的窘境。最后一局，李娜的竞技状态明显恢复，前后共获得3个破发点。但科贝尔冷静地利用发球优势吹灰分数，最终依靠一记反手制胜分拿下盘点，将首盘以6-1快速获胜。

第二盘开始，两人率先展开了破发大战。李娜在自己的第一个发球局送出致命双误，开局不利先丢一局。不过随后李娜在科贝尔的发球局获得了5个破发点，最终依靠对手的失误实现了回破。科贝尔不甘示弱，在第三局破发成功，并且保住自己的发球局将比分改写为3-1。当所有人都以为李娜的冠军梦想已经接近破灭时，局势突然反转。在成功守住第五局后，娜姐依靠强力反手进攻完成反破发，并且一鼓作气以4-3反超比分。第八局，两人展开了漫长的拉锯战，在先后打出了九次平分、丧失了七个破发点后，李娜依靠强势接发球再下一局，5-3彻底将局势逆转，并顺利以6-3扳回一城。

第三盘，士气正旺的李娜率先破发，并以love game保住发球局。此时的娜姐已然火力全开，在对手的发球局又连下4分，迫使科贝尔的教练入场进行指导。但为时已晚，李娜在第四局轰出本场比赛第一记Ace球，把比分扩大到4-0。此时冠军的归属已经失去了悬念，李娜在盘末再度取得破发后，就以6-1上演大逆转，首夺超5系列赛冠军。

Bob

Li rallies to beat Kerber for Cincinnati title

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MASON, Ohio (AP) -- China's Li Na was finishing lunch when the men's final at the Western & Southern Open ended with Roger Federer posing for photos and raising the pottery trophy for the fifth time.
She tried to imagine how it would feel.
"I was thinking, `OK, I really want to do the same,''' she said.
A few hours later, she did it all, and more.
Li overcame an awful first set to win her first title of the season on Sunday, beating Germany's Angelique Kerber 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the Western & Southern Open.
For Federer, it was a record fifth Cincinnati title. For Li, it was her first title anywhere since her breakthrough season in 2011, when she won at Sydney and the French Open. Three times this season, she made it to the finals of a tournament. All three times, she lost in three sets.
"So I was really hungry for the title,'' she said.
Li pumped her fist when she finished off another three-set title match, this time coming out on top. She posed for the photos, just like Federer, then raised the trophy.
Finally, she headed to a corner of the court to sign her name dozens of times on those large yellow tennis balls made for autographs. KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)'' blared through the stadium.
Li was in no hurry to move on.
"I think it's a very good beginning,'' she said.
The final featured players who knocked the Williams sisters out of an already depleted tournament. Defending champion Maria Sharapova dropped out before the start because of a stomach illness.
Kerber and Li gave the tournament two of its twists.
Kerber, ranked No. 7 in the world, ended Serena Williams' 19-match winning streak in the quarterfinals Friday. She followed that by winning a three-set match in the semifinals, and was struggling to keep up by the second set on Sunday.
"It was a tough week for me with the match against Serena,'' Kerber said. "It was not easy.''
Not for Li, either.
With Serena watching from the stands, Li beat Venus Williams in a three-set semifinal Saturday night, sending her to the title match after a very trying week. The ninth-ranked Li ended up with the most challenging weekend of the tournament.
Her match on Thursday night was postponed by rain, forcing her to play two matches on Friday less than seven hours apart. She followed that with her win over Venus Williams, then that title-match breakthrough.
It was her second chance in a week to get a trophy. She reached the finals in Montreal on Monday and lost to Petra Kvitova 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
Playing back-to-back finals for the first time in her career, Li nearly got run off the court.
Kerber broke her serve while pulling ahead 3-0 in the first set, when Li had trouble keeping the ball in the court. Li made 17 unforced errors while losing the set in 29 minutes.
"She was playing unbelievable in the first set,'' Li said. "I was trying to play fast, but I was feeling she had no mistakes. Every ball just came back to my side.''
The low point: Kerber broke her again to start the second set.
That's when Li settled down and made it a match, forcing long rallies that took a toll on Kerber. The German bent over after long points and leaned on her racket, showing the strain.
The turning point came with Kerber serving down 4-3 in the second set. Li wasted seven break points before finally winning the 24-point game.
Li pumped her left fist after she broke Kerber's serve to open the third set. Kerber slowed down as the set went on. She called for her coach after getting broken again to fall behind 3-0, then went to her chair, grabbed a towel and covered her face.
She sensed it was already over.
Despite the loss, Kerber came away upbeat over the way she's been playing lately. The 24-year-old German has won at Paris and Copenhagen, and finished as the runner-up in Eastbourne and Cincinnati.
Next week, she'll move up a spot to a career-best No. 6 in the world.
"One year ago, I was everywhere - 90 to 100 (in the rankings),'' she said. "And now I'm in the finals. So many things have changed in the last year. So I prefer this year.''
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Bob

Roger Federer and Li Na win Cincinnati Masters titles

CHINA'S Li Na won her first title of the season, overcoming an awful first set to beat Germany's Angelique Kerber in the final at the Cincinnati Masters.

After finishing second three times this season, Li finally lifted a trophy with her 1-6 6-3 6-1 victory. She lost in the final at Montreal a week earlier, and appeared headed for another disappointment after her poor showing in the first set.

Gerber wore down during long rallies, grabbing her ankle at times. Li broke her serve by winning a 24-point game of the second set, putting her in control. Li hadn't won a tournament since 2011, when she won at Sydney and the French Open.

Defending champion Maria Sharapova dropped out before the tournament began because of illness.

On the men's side, top-ranked Roger Federer won a record fifth Cincinnati title on Sunday, dominating second-seeded Novak Djokovic from the outset for a 6-0 7-6 (9-7) victory.


Federer improved to 5-0 in Cincinnati finals and tied Rafael Nadal for the most Masters titles with 21. Nadal dropped out of the tournament with a sore knee that has sidelined him from the US Open and beyond.

"A record break - always something special when that happens," Federer said.

Djokovic won the Rogers Cup in Toronto last Sunday and was trying for his first win in Cincinnati, where he reached the finals last year but had to quit the title match against Andy Murray because of a sore shoulder. He seemed to be running on fumes in his second final in two weeks.

"I had a fantastic week in Toronto," Djokovic said. "I came in here and didn't really expect to get this far, get all the way to the title."

By contrast, the 31-year-old Swiss star skipped the Rogers Cup, leaving him fresher on Sunday.

Federer and Djokovic rarely have such lopsided days together. The Swiss star won the first set in only 20 minutes, allowing Djokovic just 10 points. It was the first time in their 28 career matches that one of them took a set 6-0.

The Serb never fully recovered, snapping his streak of 15 straight wins on hardcourts.

"I made a lot of double-faults," Djokovic said. "I was just trying to win that first game and get things moving."

Helped by a double-fault, Federer broke Djokovic's serve to start Sunday's match. Then, helped by two more double-faults, he broke him again to go up 3-0.

The fans gave Djokovic a loud ovation when he held serve to open the second set. The Serb looked up at the crowd and smiled while sipping water.

Djokovic showed more energy in the second set but never put much pressure on Federer, who didn't face a break point.

Djokovic survived one match point and managed to get one point away from taking the tiebreaker. Federer ran off the last three points, closing it out with a forehand.

brahmasky

娜姐威武，呵呵

Bob

2012 Western & Southern Open Final WTA Highlights

Watch the Western & Southern Open final highlights from Sunday, featuring Li Na defeating Angelique Kerber 16 63 61 to capture her 1st title of 2012 & 1st title in North America.