Li Na admits Wimbledon blunder as she crashes out in the third round
World No 2 says not playing on grass before Wimbledon proved to bethe 'incorrect decision' as Chinese star crashes out in the third round
Li Na, the world number two and reigning Australian Open champion, admitted she made a fatal error in her Wimbledon preparations after crashing out in the third round.
The 32-year-old Chinese superstar went down to a shock 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) defeat to Czech world number 43 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the third round with the loss coming on the back of a first-round exit at the French Open last month.
Li, who has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, said she should have played a grasscourt warm-up event, but was discouraged by the prospect of having to compete on the wet and wild English south coast.
I made a decision. I said let's change a little bit. I came here pretty early to try and play on the grass courts. It was the wrong decision.
"I always play Eastbourne every year, but it's always raining and windy. So I said, OK, I cannot practice in that," she said.
"I made a decision. I said let's change a little bit. I came here pretty early to try and play on the grass courts.
"It was the wrong decision. I need to play more matches before the big tournament. I didn't know how to play the big points in the important moments. I made a lot of mistakes."
Li, who had won both her previous matches against her Czech opponent without dropping a set, admitted she was looking forward to getting back onto the hard courts of the North American swing.
That period of the season concludes with the US Open, where she made the semi-finals in 2013.