Na LiMaria SharapovaOn Sunday in Birmingham, England, top-seeded Na Li of China defeated 2nd seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia in the finals of the AEGON Classic 7-5, 6-1.

Maria, who had served well in her previous matches this year at Birmingham, hit seven double faults with only once ace (Na: 3 aces, 0 DFs). Na coverted 4 of 10 break point opportunities against Maria; Maria reached break point against Na only once, though she did score on that occasion.

After the match, Na said: “Last year I beat Maria in the semifinals, and then was so excited I forgot I had another match. I’m excited again. If I had another match this time, I think I would probably lose that, too… I won because I hit the ball flatter today, and it makes it easier to win points on grass.”

Maria commented, “I would have loved to win but

[Na] was the better player today and she did many things better than me. She returned great. I put her under no pressure whatsoever on her serve. Even though the first set was close, I was in trouble from early on and I gave her too many looks at second serves. I had my opportunities—a few points here and there could have made a difference. The goal was to get as many matches as I did; I’ve played opponents with different types of game. It’s always nice to win a tournament but it doesn’t always happen.”

Maria still leads Na 5-2 in career matches, but Na’s wins over Maria came the last two times they have played, both on grass courts. In their previous match, last year in the semifinals in Birmingham, when Na defeated Maria 6-4, 6-4.