Li Na Knocks Off Wozniacki and Will Face Clijsters in Australian Open Finals

Li Na broke new ground for China at the Australian Open on Thursday, fighting back to topple world number one Caroline Wozniacki and become her country’s first singles grand slam finalist. The ninth seed Li, who lost in the semifinals at Melbourne Park last year to eventual champion Serena Williams, will play U.S. Open winner Kim Clijsters for the title on Saturday after the Belgian beat Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, 6-3 6-3.

Down a set and trailing 5-4 in the second, Li saved a match point before stunning Wozniacki with a brilliant rearguard attack to seal the match, 3-6 7-5 6-3, and send red-clad Chinese fans at Rod Laver Arena into ecstasy.

Wozniacki’s defense was the key early on and Wozniacki picked up the pressure to win a break at 3-2 and after Li clubbed a forehand return long, Wozniacki had the first set, however, the slow-starting Li has made a career of battling her way back into matches and saved her best tennis when standing oon the edge of defeat. Li fought off match point by forcing an error from Wozniacki, then nervelessly rushed to the net to poke a sharp volley to break back to 5-5. Li held serve to love and Wozniacki wavered, sending a shot long to concede a set point and then double-faulted to take the match into a decider.

Both players struggled to hold serve in the final set as tension reached boiling point, but Li captured the decisive break at 4-3 when the Dane netted a backhand to cap a ferocious baseline battle. When asked what had got her through the suspense of the third set, Li grinned and answered: “Prize money.”

Belgium’s Kim Clijsters wasted little time flattening second seed Vera Zvonareva 6-3 6-3 with an awesome display of power tennis to reach her second Australian Open final on Thursday. Third seed Clijsters, overpowered her Russian opponent in just 73 minutes. Clijsters, simply had too many weapons for Zvonareva’s comfort, taking the first set with a fierce drive volley. Zvonareva’s big match temperament has been questioned in the past and her fragility showed on the key points, loose shots and fluffed volleys frequently letting her down. Clijsters, who also defeated Zvonareva, 6-2 6-1, in last year’s U.S. Open final, will replace the Russian as the world number two after her seventh win in their 10 meetings when the new rankings are published.

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