Li bows out as Serena sparks sexism row at Wimbledon

Chinese superstar Li Na became the first major casualty at Wimbledon yesterday as defending champion Serena Williams triggered a sexism storm over court scheduling.

Newly crowned French Open champion Li was humbled in the second round by German wildcard Sabine Lisicki, losing 3-6, 6-4, 8-6 after squandering two match points in the decisive set.

The Chinese third seed struggled to cope with the power of her big-hitting 21-year-old rival.

Lisicki reeled off 17 aces and several serves that topped 120 miles per hour throughout the match, leaving Li powerless to respond.

“From the first point until the end of the match, every serve was like 117mph. It’s impossible for women,” Li said afterwards.

Lisicki, whose career suffered a huge setback in 2010 when a serious ankle injury sidelined her for four months, will tackle Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi for a place in the last 16.

“I always had a very good serve and it’s one of the best in women’s tennis I think,” Lisicki said. “It’s very good to have a weapon like that.”

Li’s exit was the only major upset on a fourth day where wet weather again caused headaches for schedulers.

Defending champion Serena Williams booked her place in the third round after coming from behind to defeat Romanian Simona Halep 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

But Williams accused tournament organisers of sexism after being unimpressed with the decision to schedule her match on Court Two.

She insisted that reigning men’s champion Rafael Nadal and second seed Novak Djokovic – who have won fewer Wimbledon titles between them than her – would never be moved away from Centre Court or Court One.

“They like to put us on Court 2, me and Venus, for whatever reason. I haven’t figured it out yet. Maybe one day we’ll figure it out,” said Serena.

“They (Nadal and Djokovic) are never moved across. Actually, Venus and I have won more Wimbledons together than a lot of the players or by ourselves in doubles even.”

The rain delays meant several of the women’s second round matches will now be played today, including top seed Caroline Wozniacki’s match against Virginie Razzano and fifth seed Maria Sharapova’s tie with Briton Laura Robson.

In the men’s draw, second seed Novak Djokovic cruised into the third round as former champion Lleyton Hewitt was denied an upset in a thrilling five-set duel with fifth seed Robin Soderling.

Djokovic maintained his red-hot form with a ruthless straight sets dismissal of South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, winning 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in just under two hours.

“I served well, I played well, I returned really well. That was the key,” said Djokovic, who faces Cypriot number 32 seed Marcos Baghdatis in the third round.

While Djokovic blasted his way into the last 64, Sweden’s Soderling was given a punishing examination by Hewitt on Centre Court before finally prevailing 6-7 (5/7), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

The shock result of the day saw Lu Yen-Hsun down Serbian 13th seed Viktor Troicki.

Lu, a quarter-finalist in 2010, won 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4 and will face French 15th seed Michael Llodra of France for a place in the last 16.

Other results: Tsonga bt Dimitrov 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6; Federer bt Mannarino 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.