China's Li Na fought back from a set and a break down to delay Petra Kvitova's bid for the world number one ranking in a tenacious semi-final victory at the Sydney International on Thursday. French Open champion Li recovered to down Wimbledon winner Kvitova 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours of high-class tennis to reach her second consecutive Sydney final.
In doing so world number five Li ended the Czech left-hander's hopes of toppling Caroline Wozniacki from the top of the women's rankings ahead of next week's Australian Open in Melbourne. Li is the first women's player to play in back-to-back Sydney finals since Russia's two-time champion Elena Dementieva in 2009-10. Li will face either Belarussian third seed Victoria Azarenka or Polish seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska in Friday's final.