Kuznetsova takes revenge in Japan

TOKYO. Russian fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova avenged her loss at the Beijing Olympics to Li Na by eliminating the Chinese star in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday. The 2004 US Open champion, who bowed to eventual semi-finalist Li in the round of 64 in Beijing last month, took advantage of a raft of double faults to score a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory. The 26-year-old Li, the first Chinese to have won a WTA Tour title at Guangzhou in 2004, seemed to recover her form in the second set by taking six games in a row from the second game. But a double fault on the crucial break point in the second game of the final set eventually cost her the match. Overall, Li hit seven aces but also nine double faults —two of them on break points, while Kuznetsova hit two and four. “I was not expecting to play that well,” said Kuznetsova.