Li avoids williams' fate, blasting past french opponent 6-0, 6-2

Defending champion Li Na admitted that she feared falling into the same French Open abyss that had swallowed Serena Williams before easing into the third round on Thursday.

The Chinese star reached the last 32 with a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 win over France's Stephanie Foretz Gacon despite a hostile crowd on Suzanne Lenglen court.

"I was a little bit nervous at the beginning. It's always tough against a French player in Paris - I saw the match two days ago, so I was a little bit nervous," said Li.

She was referring to Williams' sensational defeat to French outsider Virginie Razzano on Tuesday, the American's first opening-round defeat in her Grand Slam career.

Li, 30, the seventh seed and Asia's first and only Grand Slam singles winner, immediately took the French supporters out of the match by breaking Foretz Gacon in the first game with aggressive baseline play.

And there was no sign of any nerves on her part after the first game.

If anything, it was the Frenchwoman, ranked 86th in the world, who was overcome by the jitters and handed Li her second break with a double fault.

Li, who had never lost before the third round in any of her previous five appearances at the French Open, scored the third break with a backhand crosscourt winner before comfortably serving out the first set.

The 31-year-old Foretz Gacon, making her 14th consecutive appearance at Roland Garros, avoided total humiliation by breaking Li halfway into the second set but Li held firm and closed out the match when her opponent hit a long return.

It was all over in 52 minutes.

Asked if she enjoyed being the defending champion, Li said: "I really don't think too much about being defending champion and how far I can go."

"I just enjoy playing every day."

Li, who became the fifth oldest first-time Grand Slam champion in the Open era when she won last year, said she considers the upcoming London Olympics as important as the French Open.

"I think this is my last time to play the Olympics," she said. "You never know what will happen after four years."

Agence France-Presse