Venus Williams lost to China's Li Na 6-3, 7-6 (3) at the Hong Kong Classic exhibition tournament on Friday to complete her only warmup event for the Australian Open with two losses, but the seven-time Grand Slam champion said the matches helped prepare her for the first major of the year.
The 30-year-old American, who is returning from a left knee injury, lost her serve in the eighth game and Li held to take the first set. She continued to be pressured on her serve in the second set. She saved the first break point in the seventh game but lost the second to go down 4-3. Down 3-5, Williams saved match point, then broke in the next game to even the score at 5-5. But Li powered through the tiebreaker, securing the win with a forehand winner down the line.
The 11th-ranked Li has a 2-0 record against Williams, including a three-set win in the Australian Open quarterfinals last year that sent the top-ranked Chinese player into her first Grand Slam semifinal.
Williams said her play improved since Thursday, when she lost to second-ranked Vera Zvonareva, also in straight sets.
"Definitely today, I was able to find a better rhythm, especially in the second set. My shots started feeling a lot better. I started hitting bigger serves on big points. Definitely, I felt very positive about my game," she said.
"It was great today to be able to face break points and still win those games and come back from a break and all those things that I haven't done in a while," Williams said. "These games have been very valuable for me because I just haven't played a lot of tennis."
The five-time Wimbledon winner last played on the tour at the U.S. Open and before that at Wimbledon.
Li said she approached the match with a positive attitude because of her winning record against Williams.
"Maybe I'm more confident playing against her again," she said.
The Chinese player also empathized with Williams over the difficulty of returning from injury.
"I have the same feeling when I come back to the court after injury - you don't trust your body 100 percent. You're a little afraid about another injury," she said.
Earlier Friday, 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin beat Hong Kong's Zhang Ling 6-3, 6-1.
