Li upsets No. 1 for shot at major glory
Source: Agencies |
January 28, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LI Na became the first Chinese player to reach the championship match at a Grand Slam after defeating top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 yesterday in Melbourne to reach the final of the Australian Open.
Li will play Belgian Kim Clijsters, the No. 3 seed, who dictated play from the start while stopping No. 2-ranked Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3.
Li is into her first major final and she needed to save a match point to do it. But she is growing in confidence after coming off a comeback win over the No. 1-ranked player and her victory over Clijsters in the final of the tune-up event at Sydney. In that finale, Li came back from 0-5 down in the first set to win it in straight sets.
Wozniacki, playing at a major for the first time with the No. 1 ranking, had match point at 5-4 and 40-30 in the second set before Li rallied. Another 66 minutes later, Li served and won on her first match point.
"It's tough play against her," Li said. "She's running... I was thinking some shots I had hit winners but every time she just got back to the ball."
Li lost to Serena Williams in the semifinals here last year - her previous best run at a major.
Her trip to the final is just another first for Li, who was the first Chinese player to win a tour-level title and the first to enter the top 10. She is also the first player from Asia to reach a Grand Slam singles final.
"I'm so happy I can be the first Chinese player to come to a final - I always do the first one!" she said in a lighthearted, courtside interview in which she joked about losing sleep on the eve of the match because her coach and husband Jiang Shan was snoring.
Asked what motivated her comeback, she deadpanned: "Prize money."
Li looked down and out after the first set, when she made 17 unforced errors and struggled for consistency. She finished with 51 unforced errors, but that was a reflection of her being the aggressor.
She said it was important for the development of tennis in China, and joked that it could give the sport some profile for more than a month.
"Good for my tennis career. Good for me; good for my team. Maybe good for China tennis," she said. "Of course this is good experience for my whole life, because many player, they play long time, but they never come to the final for a Grand Slam.
"Today I get it, so feeling I can do well in next two days."
Wozniacki could have ended the match in 1 hour, 29 minutes, but Li hit a forehand down the line, forcing an error and saving match point. It sparked a revival. She broke in that game to make it 5-5, held at love and then broke her Danish rival's serve again to make it even at one set apiece.
They traded breaks twice in the third set before Li held her nerve to finish it off when Wozniacki missed a forehand.
"I had a match point and I didn't take it," Wozniacki said. "Sometimes in tennis it's one ball that can change everything.
Li will play Belgian Kim Clijsters, the No. 3 seed, who dictated play from the start while stopping No. 2-ranked Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3.
Li is into her first major final and she needed to save a match point to do it. But she is growing in confidence after coming off a comeback win over the No. 1-ranked player and her victory over Clijsters in the final of the tune-up event at Sydney. In that finale, Li came back from 0-5 down in the first set to win it in straight sets.
Wozniacki, playing at a major for the first time with the No. 1 ranking, had match point at 5-4 and 40-30 in the second set before Li rallied. Another 66 minutes later, Li served and won on her first match point.
"It's tough play against her," Li said. "She's running... I was thinking some shots I had hit winners but every time she just got back to the ball."
Li lost to Serena Williams in the semifinals here last year - her previous best run at a major.
Her trip to the final is just another first for Li, who was the first Chinese player to win a tour-level title and the first to enter the top 10. She is also the first player from Asia to reach a Grand Slam singles final.
"I'm so happy I can be the first Chinese player to come to a final - I always do the first one!" she said in a lighthearted, courtside interview in which she joked about losing sleep on the eve of the match because her coach and husband Jiang Shan was snoring.
Asked what motivated her comeback, she deadpanned: "Prize money."
Li looked down and out after the first set, when she made 17 unforced errors and struggled for consistency. She finished with 51 unforced errors, but that was a reflection of her being the aggressor.
She said it was important for the development of tennis in China, and joked that it could give the sport some profile for more than a month.
"Good for my tennis career. Good for me; good for my team. Maybe good for China tennis," she said. "Of course this is good experience for my whole life, because many player, they play long time, but they never come to the final for a Grand Slam.
"Today I get it, so feeling I can do well in next two days."
Wozniacki could have ended the match in 1 hour, 29 minutes, but Li hit a forehand down the line, forcing an error and saving match point. It sparked a revival. She broke in that game to make it 5-5, held at love and then broke her Danish rival's serve again to make it even at one set apiece.
They traded breaks twice in the third set before Li held her nerve to finish it off when Wozniacki missed a forehand.
"I had a match point and I didn't take it," Wozniacki said. "Sometimes in tennis it's one ball that can change everything.
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