CINCINNATI – In the women’s final of the Western and Southern Open on Sunday, Na Li summoned her inner strength and battled back from a set and break down to defeat Angelique Kerber, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1.
The title in Cincinnati marked only her first title since winning the French Open 14 months ago, but she was “hungry” for this win in particular.
“Last night I was thinking about how I was in three finals this year but never won a title,” Li admitted. “So I was really hungry for the title today. Also, I was having lunch today and saw Roger after he won, having his photo taken – I really wanted to do the same.”
Although she wasn’t victorious, Kerber has much to celebrate in reflection of the past year. She climbed to a career-high world No. 6 on the WTA Tour this past Monday.
“One year ago [my ranking] was in the hundreds… like No.90 or No.100,” Kerber said. “Now I’m in the finals of Cincinnati, a really big tournament, so there are so many things that have changed in the last year. I prefer this year to last year.”
Catch all the great photos from the Cincinnati women’s final by Ken Munson below.
Photo Credit: Ken Munson. All Rights Reserved.
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