Li Na became the first Chinese player to reach a French Open
Li Na became the first Chinese player to reach a French Open semi-final with an upset 7-5, 6-2 win over fourth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus today.
She now stands just one match away from a second straight Grand Slam final, having lost to Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open championship match at the start of the year.
On that occasion she was the first Chinese player to have reached the final of a Grand Slam event.
The 29-year-old Li, seeded sixth on her fifth appearance at Roland Garros, will play Russian seventh seed Maria Sharapova tomorrow for a place in Saturday’s final.
Li, who converted to tennis as a nine-year-old after an early grounding in badminton, saved two break points in a marathon seventh game before finally taking a 4-3 lead.
Li was beaten in the final of the Australian Open by Kim Clijsters back in January, when she became the first Chinese player to make a major final.
And she is now one win away from another after a battling display against her opponent from Belarus that saw her hit back from a break down in each set.
We’re taking over Golf and now, Tennis!