Ankle injury keeps Li Na away from Hong Kong meet

Hong Kong - Chinese tennis icon Li Na will miss next month’s exhibition match in Hong Kong after her ankle injury failed to respond well enough to treatment, organisers announced here on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old Chinese sprained her left ankle in last month’s Australian Open final twice and lost to defending champion Victoria Azarenka in three sets, Xinhua reports.

The world’s No.5 also withdrew from the Qatar Open. She was scheduled to face Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki at the BNP Paribas Showdown here on March 4.

“Unfortunately, my ankle is still not ready for me to compete,” said Li. “I knew I have lots of fans in Hong Kong and I was looking forward to playing for them. I promise I will be back next year.”

World’s number four Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland will take Li’s place in the event.