Make me your Homepage
left corner left corner
China Daily Website

Li Na reaches first Grand Slam semis after French Open

2013-01-22 09:24

By (Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn)

China's top tennis player Li Na beats Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 7-5 6-3 in their women's singles quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Tuesday, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinals after the 2011 French Open triumph.

Six-seeded Li wore down Radwanska with a barrage of power-hitting to beat the fourth seed in straight sets and advance to her third semifinal at the Australian Open.

The in-form Chinese overcame her customary slow start to edge the Pole in a tight first set and after trailing 2-0 in the second, reeled off five straight games to march to the brink of victory in bright sunshine at Rod Laver Arena.

Li survived a late wobble conceding two break points when serving for the match, but reeled off five straight points to seal it after 102 minutes when Radwanska pushed a forehand long.

Li, runner-up to Kim Clijsters in 2011, will face the winner of the match between second seed Maria Sharapova and fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova for a place in the final.

Li Na reaches first Grand Slam semis after French Open

Li Na of China hits a return to Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland during their women's singles quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Jan 22, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Li Na's road to Australian Open semifinals:

Li Na reaches Australian Open quarterfinals

Li Na reaches Australian Open last 16 in four straight years

Zheng Jie, Li Na reach third round at Australian Open

Li Na pines for Melbourne Park tormentor Clijsters

Strong-starting Li targets another first in Melbourne

Chinese contingent at Australian Open:

Chinese players shine at Australian Open

Zheng makes most of her time in the spotlight

Wu Di makes history despite the loss

Previous Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next Page >>|

8.03K
...