Gisela Dulko

The 31st-seeded Dulko broke wildcard Henin’s serve three times in the third set, converting every break point she had, before scoring a 6-2 1-6 6-4 win. When Dulko won the match, after two hours, she fell to her knees as spectators applauded to congratulate her on this amazing victory over Henin, who was a Grand Slam finalist less than two months ago.

The 26-year-old Baltacha achieved her first Top 10 victory by beating tenth-ranked Li Na in the second round. Baltacha’s win came after two hours and 50 minutes, two saved match points, recovery from 5-1 down in the third set tiebreaker and after the Briton "fought her heart out". World No.65 Baltacha's final result was 7-6(6) 2-6 7-6(7).

Dulko’s opponent in the third round will be fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, while Baltacha will play wildcard Alicia Molik. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Share This

Together with line judges, ballboys and ballgirls, media and organizers, HCFoo sang a birthday song for the 28-year-old Li, both in Malaysian and in English.

The bouquet of flowers you see in front of Li Na is from our fellow blogger.

Happy birthday from Women’s Tennis Blog as well. We're wishing you to advance further within the Top 10!

Share This

Chinese first ever Top-10 women’s tennis player and second seed in Kuala Lumpur, converted all three of her break points, but lost her own serve three times and world No.81 Malek thus scored her first Top 10 win. Li’s compatriot Zheng Jie, seed No.3, advanced to the second round by beating qualifier Elena Bovina 6-4 6-3.

Top-seeded Elena Dementieva progressed to the second round. The Russian defeated Ekaterina Bychkova 6-2 6-1, in a less straightforward match than the score suggests. Interestingly, Dementieva’s next opponent will be young Serbian star Bojana Jovanovski, who you remember was jury member here on Women’s Tennis Blog when we held the contest to award one of our readers with the racquet signed by Justine Henin. Good luck, Bojana! (photo: chascow)

Share This

Chinese tennis stars Zheng Jie and Li Na have arrived home after their enormous success in Australia and were welcomed by crowds of fans and media.

Zheng and Li made history for China when they reached the 2010 Australian Open semifinals. Actually, never before had two Chinese players been in the second week of a major at the same time. Moreover, Zheng and Li are now both within Top 20 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings – Zheng is No.20 and Li has become the first Chinese Top 10 player by reaching No.10.

The national celebration of Zheng’s and Li’s arrival took place in Beijing. They answered questions from fans and media, and donated their equipment to the Chinese Tennis Association's Youth Foundation. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications China President Roger Eriksson presented Zheng and Li with special gifts for their achievements. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Share This

I’m wishing Li Na to jump into the Australian Open final, Serena’s years are odd ones anyway. The two are facing each other in a few hours. Serena has a 3-1 record against Li. They faced each other at the Australian Open once, and although it was four years ago we can mention that Serena won, but in three sets.

Share This

The second pair of quarterfinals saw defending champion Serena Williams surviving a tough contest against Victoria Azarenka, while Serena's sister Venus got upset by Li Na, the second player from China in this year's Australian Open semifinals.

The four-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams was on the brink of defeat after losing the first set and trailing 4-0 in the second. Serena's trademark comeback abilities are always by her side, especially at Grand Slams, and this time the American top seed resorted to them again to eventually beat Victoria Azarenka 4-6 7-6(4) 6-2.  The 11-time Grand Slam champion has won three Grand Slam titles saving match points on the way, two of the times at the Australian Open.

In the earlier quarterfinal, Venus Williams lost to Li Na 2-6 7-6(4) 7-5, and the Chinese advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal, joining compatriot Zheng Jie in the elite four. Venus was two points away from winning the match in the second set, but threw away a match-winning lead. Li had saved two match points in her third-round victory over Agnes Szavay and has now progressed further than ever in a major event.

The other semifinal will feature Justine Henin and Zheng Jie. What was once science fiction has become reality, as now we have a possibility of an all-Chinese final. (photos via Australian Open)

Share This

The fourth round came to a close on Day 8 of the 2010 Australian Open. Both Serena and Venus Williams progressed, as well as Chinese Li Na and Belorussian Victoria Azarenka.

Top seed Serena Williams routinely defeated home favorite Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-2 in the fourth round. The impressive performance by the American saw her lose only seven points on serve throughout the match, including one double-fault in the second set.

Serena’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be seventh-seeded Victoria Azarenka who won the day’s final match, coming back from a set down to beat Russian Vera Zvonareva 4-6 6-4 6-0 in almost two and a half hours.

Venus Williams had more trouble advancing to the quarterfinals than her sister Serena. The sixth seed lost the first set and was a break down in the second before recovering for a 3-6 6-2 6-1 victory against Italian Francesca Schiavone.

Next for Venus will be seed No.16 Li Na of China who upset fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-3 to join countrywoman Zheng Jie in the last eight, thus making history for China – it is the first time two Chinese players are in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event. Li Na and Venus Williams have had only one career meeting, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the winner was Li.

Other quarterfinal pairs include Justine Henin vs. Nadia Petrova and Zheng Jie vs. Maria Kirilenko. (photo via Australian Open)

Share This

"We are very pleased to have Li Na as an IMG client," said Max Eisenbud, IMG senior vice president who will manage the Chinese world No.16.

"She has been one of the most successful players in China’s history and in 2009 became Asia and China’s No. 1 player with a world ranking of No. 18. She has been largely hailed as being instrumental in advancing the sport within China." (source: On the Baseline, photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Share This

Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova claimed her first WTA Tour singles title after beating Li Na in Sunday’s final at the AEGON Classic.

The 13th-seeded Rybarikova bageled Li in the first set and won the second set in a tiebreaker to close out a 6-0 7-6(2) victory. The 20-year-old Rybarikova wasn’t broken once in her first WTA singles final and beat the fourth-seeded Li in just 73 minutes.

The Chinese world No.20, who knocked out Maria Sharapova in the semifinals, was hoping for her third WTA title.

Winning the AEGON Classic title, the 58th-ranked Rybarikova took home $37,000.

Additional info: Rybarikova has gained direct entry into the Wimbledon main draw for the first time. Last year, she passed the qualifying, but lost in the opening round. (photo: Getty Images via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Share This

The former Wimbledon champion, who had been looking for her third title in Birmingham, suffered six breaks of serve while Li was avenging her Roland Garros defeat.

The world No.20 Li will play Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, who defeated Sania Mirza of India 3-6 6-0 6-3 in the other semifinal.

Sharapova will spend next week practicing at Wimbledon, which starts June 22. (photo courtesy of our reader Richard)

Share This