Expect Kim's ankle to "miraculously heal" by the next match, and NO ONE will call her out on it AGAIN.

Who is worse Li Not or Choksur?

Kim's clearly turned over ankle, the replay looked awful, is obviously worth talking about .. Rafa's chair sitting pain off court, um, beyond his own story telling, is a ??? all the way, better left unsaid

Keeping Nadal quiet about his aches and pains of course is impossible, I cant believe Kim finished the match much less won it...

The Sun and nerves did the damage to poor Na... Her game started improving in the dying moments of the 3rd set but it was too late... overall, a great match...

WTa is surely one hot mess. Two recent GS champs are complete head cases (Na and Stosur) and there is #1 who cannot hit a winner.

Kim's ankle turn looked dreadful on replay. I winced just looking at it.

Is it just me or is Kim looking rather fat, old and ugly?

Tom from Cali LOL!

But really, poor Li Na. I hope she never sees a replay or highlight of this match, specifically when she returned Kim's dropshot right back to her, ignoring the open court. One wonders, in the late stages of her career, if Li will ever recover from this loss.

Hope Kim's ankle is okay, even on a bad ankle she was amazing. So impressed with her, and I have a ton of respect for her.

The Best match so far of the tournament.....one of the most remarkable comebacks in Women's tennis...down 4 MP, ankle injury,...how do you comeback? Needs lots of guts and determination! Completely mesmerized and inspired by this great athlete!

http://healthnsports4u.blogspot.com/

For people questioning her, please just watch the video replay...
At least she doesn't constantly talking about it...
I have nothing to say about Li...maybe it means she could win the French again? lol

@ AP

Are you serious? This is not an epic comeback a la Serena. All kim had to do is stand up on one leg as Li self-imploded across the net.

It was definitely a highly dramatic match.

"Two points later Li had lost the set. For the next four games, it appeared that she had also lost the match. Clijsters went up 4-0 as a blank-faced Li missed everything in sight."

Steve for me this was the most salient point of this match. Li Na had been in this exact position in last year's final, with Kim evening it after being down a set. And Li Na went on a mental walkabout for 3 games in the middle of that 3rd set to spot Clijsters an insurmountable advantage.

Had she just allowed herself to breath and remind herself Kim was still not moving great, that she was still hitting the ball well, she would not have gone down 4-0 and probably would have held on to win it.

That said, HUGE credit to Clijsters for FIGHTING throughout this whole match. There is very little to separate these two and she pulled out some amazing clutch play to recover from a break down in the 2nd, 4 MPs down and then hit 3 aces in one game to hold serve at one point.

Clijsters looks so dejected and deflated after rolling that ankle in set 1. I cannot believe she fought her way through it. That ankle wrapping looked like a cast. Anyone who saw the ankle roll in slow motion could see how awful it really was. Major respect for Clijsters fighting abilities and sheer will.

Dude, you are funny man with that comment. lol

The same people giving Clijsters a pass on the ankle are the same ones who gave Serena hell a couple weeks ago, even though replay shows Serena rolled hers MUCH worse. Hypocrisy.

Anyway, such a sad loss for Li. Four match points IN A ROW, and she makes careless errors on all four, gifting that second set to Kim. I knew it was over after that. Li doesn't have the mental fortitude of someone like Serena, Venus, Maria....hell, even Caroline can forget a missed opportunity and come back to win.

a complete hit and miss tennis match with 2 mentally unstable player: Result one heck-uva match! I enjoyed it and I am glad Kim is in the quarters. See you in finals Kim and Serena

Mentally unstable? I'd like to see you play a match on center court with an injured ankle, and see how you manage.

Irrespective of Kim's injury, this match would have ups and downs, no matter what.

@usopenrockz

EXACTLY. Blatant double standard. And just watch Kim's ankle will be brand new in the next match and everyone will be singing praises of her miraculous recovery blah blah. If it was Serena....

I believe the fact that Kim was able to not only deal with an ankle injury, and save 4 match points in a row shows how incredibly tough she is. To all the haters, get lost. It was an amazing match for both women. I honestly do not know how Li lost this match, and I sure as hell don't know how Kim won it. But huge credit to her for trusting her tennis in those key moments of the tie break. I really hope she wins the Open!

Canadacia - You are an idiot. Watch the video replay. She obviously rolled her ankle. She never made a fuss about it. There was no conspiracy. She taped it, she didn't pretend she couldn't play. She just got on with the job. Even with a bad ankle she beat Li. Its a moment to celebrate for Kim. If her ankle holds up for the next match, that will be wonderful for everyone!

Un-Four-Gettable. Nice one Steve, hehehe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDN5rG3wLa4

Great effort for Kim to win this match on a bad ankle. I only expect her ankle to swell and get worse over the next few days though. Given this, I don't expect her to win the match over Wozniacki.

Poor luck for Li Na. Before AO2012 began, I predicted that she would win the tournament.

I woke up at 6AM thinking it was time for Tomic Federer match only to realise I was 2 hours early.
So I had a look at the live score at the point when Li Na was 5:2 up in the tie-breaker.
I "watched" the score board with utter excited disbelief not bothering to actually watch the match.
It was more bearable like that.
After the tie-break I went back to bed (read sofa during AO) not expecting a win from Kim (such was the power of dread that got into my bones while watching the tie-break soreboard semi-aslee) and was so happy to see she won when I rewoke up....
I just hope she can have that ankle fixed. I cannot bear a Woznizcki win into the next round . There is something unbearably dislikable about her game and that smug jaw-line.

Dude-

I don't Dude but my guess, is that it's you. I think Kim Looks like a winner. Since winner's are always beautiful, it must be you.

This match was pure drama and hell for Kim's fans in the end of 2nd set and in the moment she rolled her ankle! I couldn't believe that she won it! she's huge fighter and sure Li didn't play her best.. Kim just made less mistakes at some points and was mentally stronger. Kim proved once again that she's a huge fighter and really plays right from the heart.. that drop shot in the tiebreak was insane! I nearly got a heart attack.. it was such a bad decision but ended well for Kim.
accusing Kim of faking her injury is just silly! that was the ankle she's had injuried before so rolling it made a lot of pain for her..
great job Kim!! saving 4 match points with bad ankle and then winning the match! she has a heart for this game! unbelievable

Wimbledonut & Inteligenthorse

Thanks for those and a couple of post that were actually well considered posts. Goodness gracious why is it so rare to read even an occasionally few thoughtful, well reasoned comments. In any event, I think an %80 Kimmie still beats a %100 Wozniaki. If Kim doesn't retire or just gives Woz a walkover, that is if she plays at all and is able to finish the match, Kim will be among the final 8 and everybody will fire & clammour up again about Caro being a fraudulent #1, which she is.

noleisthebest-

"I cannot bear a Woznizcki win into the next round . There is something unbearably dislikable about her game and that smug jaw-line."

I've been reading your post for years. I will not be one to ever say that yours is an impartial or objective observation. But really, can't we just keep it to tennis and not regress to personal, idiosyncratic objections of a players mannerisms or or court appearance? I mean com'on man- just appreciate the tennis. Root for her to get beat, "but her smug jawline"- aaaigh!

M-life,

I respect your dislike. You can respect my freedom of expression, too.
If we all kept it "at tennis" (whatever that actually means), the blogs would be bland and boring.
We all bring out ourselves here, the way we "live" tennis.

Regarding the smug jawline, I think it's one of the reasons not many like her and constantly have a go at her for being a slamless number one.

I am not one of those, but still find her off-putting.

noleisthebest, I actually DON'T think the "smug jawline is one of the reasons not many like her and constantly have a go at her" - that is just a really stupid comment. Honestly, grow up.. by all means, give us an opinion about her style of play, tactics, etc, but to get personal about appearance? Don't group us in with your juvenile attitude. I for one don't particularly like Wozniacki, but it's for her game, not her looks, which really don't factor into much in terms of winning or losing grand slams.

noleisthebest-

Alright man, you've got a deal. I agree completely that you have every right to express yourself as you like, as you may not like, and even as you might not even care. The point being that you have the freedom as you stated, to express yourself, to which truthfully, it is both unfair and unbecomming of me to tell/ instruct you or anyone else otherwise. I will respect your freedom to express your thoughts and opinions as you will.

I however disagree with you that if we kept it to strictly tennis (whatever that means) that the blogs would be boring. I actually beleive we would likely benefit with a higher level of analysis, while offering different perspectives of individual players stregnths and deficiencies. But- we can agree to disagree- respectfully.

Cheers nole.

Tim, it's not just Nadal, it's latin people in general. We HAVE to complain, we HAVE to have an excuse. Otherwise we're not ourselves. Next one: tricky toilet seat.

Gotabrain-

Hahaha- I guess I was posting and didn't see what you wrote.

Hey nole- I guess Gotabrain has opinions of his own quite different than yours or mine. Oh well, so now we have to walk-the-talk I guess, and be tested as to our "adultness" in so far as our ability to trully celebrate diversity.

Maybe you were right all along. Bleep it- and just trash talk everybody who disagrees.

M-life

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Thumbs-up-icon.png

Candacia, are you resentful that Li Na lost? Or did you no watch the match?- in which case you don't even have the right to comment on Clijsters' physical state during the game. If you saw the point during which she twisted her ankle, it was clearly no act. It was painful just to watch. Her movement was clearly gimpy afterwards, impeding her movement throughout the match. It was just a courageous game by her, and she deserves all the respect in the world, especially by supposed fans of tennis like you, for her remarkable comeback victory.

Oh Candicia, you are a retard.

No Candacia is trying ng to insinuate that somehow Kim is like Assrena.
While we all know that Assrena plays the "injury" card, Candacia thinks Kim is trying to emulate her. Truly sad.

Did anyone else notice when the meltdown happened? I'm pretty sure it occurred when Li's husband yelled out for her to challenge the call in the tiebreak. She gave him a look of death, and then she just IMPLODED. Point after point, it was painful to watch. More than the match, I'm concerned of the impact it will have on their relationship. Maybe she should go back to not using him as her coach, because what he did was inexcusable for a coach (or husband) to do. She was nervous, and his call out made all the difference in the match. She should have let it go, but, as her coach is her husband too, that made it just the more difficult.

All congrats to Kim, because her mental toughness won out, but Li's meltdown was monumental. She finally got rid of it halfway through the 3rd, but by then it was just too late.

Did anyone else notice when the meltdown happened? I'm pretty sure it occurred when Li's husband yelled out for her to challenge the call in the tiebreak. She gave him a look of death, and then she just IMPLODED. Point after point, it was painful to watch. More than the match, I'm concerned of the impact it will have on their relationship. Maybe she should go back to not using him as her coach, because what he did was inexcusable for a coach (or husband) to do. She was nervous, and his call out made all the difference in the match. She should have let it go, but, as her coach is her husband too, that made it just the more difficult.

All congrats to Kim, because her mental toughness won out, but Li's meltdown was monumental. She finally got rid of it halfway through the 3rd, but by then it was just too late.

As much as I am happy for Kim, I really feel for Li Na. She is known to be really hard on herself and last night's loss is I suspect going to haunt her for a long while. She's such a capable, talented player. She might be as talented as anyone playing the game considering her smaller physical stature and what she is able to do out there. She does let external distractions affect her ability to focus in match and I suspect in training. I hope she can shake-off this obviously painful defeat and perform well in So.Cal & Florida.

I think Li Na is done as top 5 player(after this painful loss)
She never ever will be the same treat to top players...

@Tom from Cali - Kvitova to the rescue

I thought Kim was done in that tiebreak but Li Na's errors gave her a new confidence. I don't think she'll pull it off against Caro with this kind of play though. Too many errors on important points.

I think Clijsters played well but Li Na's body language and attitude was disgraceful! I really think Li is pathetic for yelling at her husband the poor man is not to blame she is! Li was so stupid hitting the shot back to Clijsters when she lead 6-5 she HAD THE CROSS COURT OPEN! I couldn't believe how dumb Li was! Li Na is a choker just like Samantha Stosur I am very disappointed in Li. I guess last year's French Open was just a fluke victory.

Wow, tough for Li Na, who has a beautiful game but maybe has some husband/coaching issues? But make no mistake, props to Kim because you could see her ankle completely collapse (very clear on t.v.) and her mobility was greatly compromised. So many players retire from games and she showed major guts. At the same time, hard to imagine success later in this tournament with a bum ankle. How is she going to defeat fast, agile players who don't mentally fall apart (aka Woz and Serena)?

I think Li na's age clock has finally arrived
Its time for her to consider retirement She is dreaming if she thinks she could win another slam. As me yahoo.com posted Shes finished as a top 5 player. This loss is going to really hurt and probably haunt her for the rest of this season. There is only one posssible way she can redeem herself from this is to fire her husband again and ban him from some tournaments. and hire a proper coach like Mortensen and have a fresh start. She did it last year, But will she do it again??? Stay tuned

I still believe in what Li Na can do in the next tournaments.

http://myballsmyballs.blogspot.com/2012/01/serena-is-out-nishikori-makes-history.html