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Li Na makes quarters double for China at Australian Open

2010-01-26 08:40 BJT

MELBOURNE, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's Li Na followed the footsteps of compatriot Zheng Jie to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open on Monday, beating No. 4 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-4, 6-3.

Li Na of China celebrates her victory over Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark during the women's singles fourth round match at the 2010 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 25, 2010. Li was qualified for the quarterfinal after beating Wozniacki by 2-0.(Xinhua/Wang Lili)

Li Na of China celebrates her victory over Caroline Wozniacki of
 Denmark during the women's singles fourth round match at the 
2010 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 
on Jan. 25, 2010. Li was qualified for the quarterfinal after 
beating Wozniacki by 2-0.(Xinhua/Wang Lili)

It is the first time two Chinese players have made the last eight of the same Grand Slam.

Zheng became the first Chinese to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals in its 105-year history when she powered past No. 31 seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Sunday.

In a match dominated by breaks of serve, Li was down a service break and 4-2 in the first set, but then rattled off the next six games to win the first set.

Li broke Wozniacki's serve in the second set to go up 3-1, then Wozniacki took a medical time-out to have treatment on her lower right thigh. She came back to break Li's serve, but the Chinese player finally held serve at 5-3, sealing it on the second match point after the Dane slapped a forehand long.

Li, the No. 16 seed, had 34 unforced errors compared to Wozniacki's 22. She also nailed 21 winners against three for her Danish opponent.

"Against her, you need to just play on your highest level the whole match through and keep concentrated and keep a lot of balls in play," said Wozniacki, the 2009 U.S. Open finalist.