Home favourite Li Na on Friday denied she felt added pressure going into the China Open – an event she has never won – as the first round draw handed her the toughest of starts.
Asia’s top women’s player, who is banking on a strong performance in Beijing to reach this season’s grand finale, will face Italy’s Francesca Schiavone, a former world number four, in a repeat of the last year French Open final.
Li defeated Schiavone, who was defending champion, 6-4, 7-6, to win her first Grand Slam but the Chinese star has struggled with consistency this year and faces a fight to make October’s WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.
The 30-year-old seventh seed, who is desperate to hang onto the eighth position she needs in the race to reach the end-of-season tournament, said she did not feel the burden of expectation by playing in front of home crowds.
“There’s pressure everywhere, right? I mean if you’re an athlete you have to be used to that so I’m feeling the same,” Li said, adding that if she isn’t able to put up a strong showing it may be her last event of the season.
“It’s the same (as other) tournaments. It’s a big tournament in China, big tournament in Beijing and also I think maybe it’s my last tournament of the year, maybe not” she added, saying that she is “still looking to make the Championships”.
