Tennis-Australia Open will see Li Na playing in her third Australian Open final in a repeat performance play after her uneventful attempts in 2011 and 2013. She reached the final at Melbourne Park after ditching 19-year-old Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-2, 6-4.
She will meet 20th seed Dominika Cibulkova from Slovakia in the final.
Cibulkova managed an easy win over fifth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2 in their semi-final.
Li, No.4 will be the top seeded player in the tennis-australian open this year after a number of upsets in the fourth round: Favorites Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova along with Victoria Azarenka, the defending champion. Azarenka lost in her quarter final match to Agnieszka Radwanska.
Li might recall losing last year to Azerenka after falling and hitting her head twice on the hard court. Li Na's first appearance in a Grand Slam was at the tennis-australian open in 2011. She conceded defeat to Kim Clijsters. Li managed to rescue herself by winning at the French Open. The win at Roland Gaross is the only victory she has claimed in a major competition.
With her ranking well above Cibulkova at the tennis-australia open, Li is poised to win. However, with big names like Williams, Ivanovic, and Sharapova all gone from play, the match will take a 'wait and see' approach to the tennis-australian open final.
Li who is from China was quoted as saying, "Last time was a little bit tough, I'll try this time to make one more step," adding, 'tough match of course in the final. I think for sure both will try fight on the court because it's one more step to take the trophy,' Al Jazeera reported.
Li was opting for retirement after her she lost at the French Open in 2013. However, a quarter final appearance at Wimbledon and a semifinal entry at the U.S. Open encouraged her to stay in the game.
This year's tennis-australian open appears to signal that the court is all clear for Li to take advantage of her opponent. Her confident wins leading up to the tournament final leave her in good shape for a victory at tennis-australian open in her third attempt
