No. 1 seed Na Li proved too much for the Estonian to handle. Photo used courtesy of AEGON.

BIRMINGHAM, U.K — A tough schedule has finally gotten the better of Kaia Kanepi at the AEGON Classic.

In an event dogged by bad weather, Kanepi became one of the culprits, forced to play almost two whole matches in one day, with the pressure proving too tough.

Having moved into the round of 16 early Thursday afternoon, Kanepi found herself back out on court in the evening to begin her round of 16 match against young Portuguese opponent Michelle Larcher de Brito.

Up 4-2 in the first set, the game was postponed due to ailing light. Returning on Friday, the players were given sufficient rest with other games going ahead before the took the court to complete the match mid-afternoon. When the game resumed Kanepi wasted little time in wrapping after the first set, before taking the next by the same scoreline.

However the late start played against Kanepi, giving her insufficient time to recover before again having to take the court against no. 1 seed Na Li of China.

Tied one apiece after two previous meetings, Li had the advantage of having had sufficient rest, one of the perks of being ranked 11th in the world and holding down no.1 seeding.

The advantage told, but not as much as one might suspect with Kanepi holding her own in breaking her Chinese opponent on two occasions throughout the match.

However it made little difference as a visibly fresher Li was able to run Kanepi ragged to claim the match 6-4, 6-4.

It was a tough week for Kanepi who first had to go through qualifying just to appear at the event before being forced to play four games in three days.

Regardless of falling at the quarterfinal stage, Kanepi should now see a significant spike in her world ranking, which may well see her avoid the dreaded qualifying path to Wimbledon.

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