China’s Li Na and Japan’s Ayumi Morita kicked off the Asian challenge at Wimbledon with emphatic first round wins on Monday.

Li became the first Asian to win a Grand Slam singles title when she lifted the French Open trophy in 2011 and the 30-year-old is hoping to emulate that historic achievement at the All England Club this year.

After a frustrating claycourt campaign, which saw her surrender the French Open crown in the fourth round, the world number 11 looked right at home on Wimbledon’s lush lawns.

She was far too strong for Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan and brushed aside the 21-year-old 6-3, 6-1 in little more than an hour on Court 12 to set up a second round meeting with Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, who defeated France’s Pauline Parmentier.

Li’s combination of experience and power proved far too hot to handle for the world number 41 Pervak, whom she had also beaten at the Australian Open this year.

After an early exchange of breaks, Li landed the decisive blow for a 5-3 advantage before serving out the set.

The Chinese star quickly took control of the second set with a break to move 2-1 ahead and romped to victory with two more breaks.

While Li is regarded as a decent outside bet for the title, the 22-year-old Morita would be happy just to make it past the second round for the first time in five visits.

Morita had lost in the first round in three of her four previous appearances, but she improved that dismal record by defeating Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova 6-4, 6-3 on Court 14.

Morita, who has never been past the third round of any Grand Slam, next faces Chinese 30th seed Peng Shuai, who had to dig deep before defeating Polish qualifier Sandra Zaniewska 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3.

Peng, 26, reached the fourth round here last year, but she has struggled at the majors in 2012 — failing to get past the third round of either the Australian or French Opens — and was pushed all the way by Zaniewski.

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei celebrated her first appearance at Wimbledon for four years with 6-2, 6-4 win over French wildcard Virginie Razzano.

Razzano had shocked Serena Williams in the first round of the French Open last month, but 26-year-old Hsieh produced a polished display to ease through.

Next up for Hsieh will be a clash with France’s Stephanie Foretz Gacon as the world number 62 bids to reach the third round here for the first time.

Hsieh’s compatriot Chang Kai-Chen, making only her second Wimbledon appearance, bowed out in the first round as the 21-year-old was thrashed 6-1, 6-2 by Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic.

Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn enjoyed a memorable run to the quarter-finals in 2008, but the 35-year-old is a fading force and her 16th Wimbledon singles appearance came to an abrupt conclusion with a 6-4, 6-2 first round defeat against Georgia’s Anna Tatishvili.

Japan’s Misaki Doi made the main draw as a lucky loser, but it was a short-lived reprieve as the 21-year-old — who reached the last 32 on her Wimbledon debut last year — was beaten 7-5, 6-3 by Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands.

In the men’s singles, Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun — who famously defeated three-time finalist Andy Roddick here in 2010 — was beaten 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 by America’s Ryan Harrison, threfore missing out on the chance to face world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round.

Taiwan’s Jimmy Wang, ranked a lowly 207th, put up a brave fight before losing 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 7-5 against Spanish 17th seed Fernando Verdasco.

Source from: http://www.bangkokpost.com/