Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Devon’s Ann Li reaches 3rd round of U.S. Open
Run ends for Devon’s Li at U.S. Open against ranked Kerber
Devon native Ann Li, who turned 20 years old on June 26, was quite encouraged by her play at the 2020 U.S. Open at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center the past few days.
Li, currently ranked 128th in the WTA women’s singles rankings, defeated No. 68 Arantxa Rus, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, in the first round Tuesday, then on Friday, lost to No. 20 Alison Riske, 6-3, 6-4.
The 30-year-old Riske, who was seeded 13th at the U.S. Open, reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year for and advanced to the fourth round at this year’s Australian Open. Li’s victory against Riske was her first-ever Top 50 win, and her first set took only 27 minutes.
Facing three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber in the third round Friday, Li battled the 2016 U.S. Open champion all the way in a 6-3, 6-4 loss. It was the first time she faced a former No.1 or a Grand Slam titlist, and was her first time playing a left-hander at tour level.
“I feel like I played well,” said Li following her loss Friday. “I lost to a great player today, but I feel like I’ve improved a lot, even from last week. My awareness on court is improving, and my game is less up-anddown, I’m playing good quality tennis for most of the match.”
This was Li’s fourth U.S. Open appearance and her debut in the main draw. Li had been elevated to the main draw following the recent withdrawals of several players, including former U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
“It was really exciting to be in the main draw,” said Li. “Playing here [also] was really exciting because this is where I’ve trained. It was nice to have trained up here, where the U.S. Open is held – and when I trained here, it was quiet, kind of like it is now (laughs). I have a lot of great [personal] relationships here.”
Li, who grew up in Devon, has been noted as showing real potential this year, and has successfully advanced through qualifying rounds three times so far this season, at Auckland, Australian Open and Western & Southern Open
In February, she advanced to the Australian Open main draw for the first time and won her first match before losing to the eventual champion, Sofia Kenin, in the second round. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was in Indian Wells [in March] and then that tournament got cancelled,” said Li. “I was going to go home for a couple of days, but then I wound up getting stuck [in Pennsylvania] for two months. I didn’t play for two months, and I was trying to work out, but it’s not the same –it was cold there.”
Back home with her parents for two months during the COVID-19 pandemic, Li adjusted to a different routine.
“I spent a lot of time listening to music, trying to get into meditation and visualizing more,” said Li. “It’s nice to be able to spend time with your parents; I don’t see them too much [otherwise]. Toward the end of the two months, I really wanted to get back out, then I was able to go back to Orlando and start training again [at the USTA National Campus].”
The 20-year-old Li is bi-lingual (English and Chinese). Her parents (Jianchao and Feng Zhou) emigrated from China, and her father attended the University of Delaware. Li started playing tennis at the Legacy Tennis and Learning program in Philadelphia under the guidance of coaches Jon Glover and Lance Lee.
Li began training with the USTA at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York at age 14, then a couple of years later trained at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., which opened in 2017.
“I first was in New York with the USTA for a couple of years, then when they first opened up in Orlando I went there for a couple of camps, and I think that was when they first offered the training there,” said Li. “It’s a little better with the weather there, because we play a lot indoors here [in New York], so it was nice to get outside, but it’s really humid in the summer (laughs).”
Li, who attended Valley Forge Middle School, and was a student at Conestoga for a couple of months during her freshman year, was asked about the adjustment of leaving home, family and friends to attend the outof-state USTA academy.
“It’s definitely tough, making a change, leaving home and leaving your old coaches, and being in new scenery, but I knew what I wanted to do in tennis, so I took that opportunity,” replied Li.
“It’s a lot of hard work at the academy – everyone’s there to get better. The gym is great, and they have 100 courts there. They have red clay and green clay, so I think it’s awesome to be able to train on red clay before going to a tournament in Europe.
“My coach at Legacy, Jon Glover, also works at the USTA center in Orlando too. I’ve had a lot of fun with him, and he really helped me grow a lot when I was in junior tennis.
“I don’t get to go home too much anymore, but maybe I can after this tournament (laughs). I might go home for a couple of days; the French Open is happening fairly soon [Sept. 21 to Oct. 11], after that, we’ll see. I want to break into the top 100 by the end of the year, but my [main] goal is to get better every day.”