January 25, 2014 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
China's Li Na, the number four seed, captured her second Grand Slam title Saturday at the 2014 Australian Open, winning the Women’s Singles title over Slovakian and 20th seed Dominika Cibulkova, 7-6(7-3), 6-0 in one hour and 37 minutes. Li had won the French Open in 2011, and was a two-time finalist in Melbourne, losing in 2011 to Kim Clijsters and again last year to Victoria Azarenka. It was Cibulkova’s first ever appearance in a Grand Slam final.
Li had won all four of the pair's previous meetings. With the victory, Li became Asia's first Grand Slam champion at the French Open in 2011, and will return to number three in the world on Monday in the WTA Women’s Singles Rankings, the highest ranking ever for an Asian player. She also becomes the first woman over 30 years of age to win the Australian Open title since Margaret Court in 1973.
Cibulkova had a great run in Melbourne, surpassing her previous best Australian Open result of a fourth-round exit in 2009, and will move up to 13th in next week’s WTA Women’s Singles Rankings, a jump of seven spots.
