Li Na is not feeling the pressure after beating last year's runner-up Mary Pierce 4-6 6-0 6-0 on Sunday to become the first Chinese woman to reach the last 16 of the US Open.

"I'm not nervous," Li told reporters. "I'm excited."

Li Na of China reacts after winning a point during her match against Mary Pierce of France at the US Open tennis tournament in New York September 3, 2006. [Reuters]

Li showed her resolve by coming back after losing the first set to 13th-seeded French veteran Mary Pierce, sweeping the last 12 games to seal victory.

After committing 22 unforced errors in the opening set, the hard-hitting Li made only three errors in a near-perfect second set to turn the match around.

"After the first set I didn't play very well," said Pierce, runner-up at Flushing Meadows last year to Kim Clijsters.

"I was hitting the ball short and my opponent played very good. She served well and hit the ball hard and deep. She didn't give me much of a chance.

"She's a very good player, very solid."

Li, who blasted 51 winners to just 14 for Pierce, has been battling injuries this season and said she had to make an adjustment to hard courts after her march to the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

"After Wimbledon I've been losing first round, second round," Li said. "Maybe I had trouble changing courts over to hard courts.

"On grass courts, I was thinking one or two forehands or backhands and I can win the point. The points are faster. Everybody can play on the hard court.

"I told myself, 'Try your game. Try your points. Be yourself. Don't think about Wimbledon. Forget about the grass court. That is in the past."

Next up for the 24-year-old Li is third-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova, who has beaten Li three times without losing a set, twice this season and in the third round of the 2005 Australian Open.

Li is not planning anything special to beat Sharapova.

"Just be myself. Play my game," Li said.

(Reuters September 4, 2006)