China's Li Na beat world number one Caroline Wozniacki 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the Australian Open semis Thursday to become the first Asian woman to reach a Grand Slam final. Li courageously saved a match point before clawing her way back into the encounter, her second straight Australian Open semi-final, dashing Wozniacki's hopes of winning a maiden major title.
The 28-year-old from Wuhan now has a golden opportunity to bring home China's first Grand Slam singles title, which would be expected to ignite the sport's popularity in the giant Asian country. Li, China's number one, fought back from a poor start where she made error after error to give Wozniacki easy points, to gradually overhaul her younger opponent in hot conditions on Rod Laver Arena.
When asked what had inspired her gritty fightback, the crowd favourite laughingly replied: "Prize money", adding that her husband-coach Jiang Shan's snoring had disturbed her sleep. "I didn't have a good night's sleep last night," she joked. "My husband (snored). I woke up every hour." The 20-year-old Wozniacki had gone into the tournament having to fend off accusations that she wasn't a deserving world number one because she is yet to win a Grand Slam.
"I'm happy that I am the first Chinese player to make the final," said the smiling Li, as her husband Jiang beamed down from the stands. By reaching the semis Li was already assured of returning to the top 10, after becoming the first Chinese player to crack the elite group following last year's semi-final, when she was beaten by eventual champion Serena Williams.
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