World No.8 Li Na is set to battle Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan for a place in the last 16 of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
After having a splendid year in 2011, where she rose to No.5 in the world, the Chinese No.1 has had a disappointing start to the year. She started the year on a high and was runner up only to eventual Australian Open Champion and World No.1 Victoria Azarenka. That was however brought to a halt soon and in the Australian Open, she bowed down to Kim Clijsters in the fourth round. In February, the former Grand Slam winner suffered an injury on her lower back. She made it to the quarterfinals of both Indian Wells and Miami Sony Ericsson Open. Her win/loss record stands at 13/5 this year.
Ranked No.116 in the world Akgul Amanmuradova beat Dominika Cibulkova in 3 tight sets in the first round. She now faces the mammoth task of undoing the Chinese No.1 in her next round match. This match would serve more as an experience for her, rather than a chance of upsetting the Chinese.
This will be the first meeting between the two and one should expect the World No.8 to cruise through this one.