Ninth seed becomes the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam singles final
Li Na saved a match point as she stunned top seed Caroline Wozniacki to become the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam singles final.
Li had looked down and out at the Australian Open as Wozniacki served for the match at a set, 5-4 and 40-30 up.
However Li escaped danger with a booming forehand down the line before going on to rattle off three games on a bounce to level the match.
And the ninth seed held her nerve in the deciding rubber to secure a 3-6 7-5 6-3 win.
Li will now face third seed Kim Clijsters in Saturday's final - and she will be hoping for a better build up for that match after her husband and coach Jiang Shan had disrupted her preparations for the semi-final.
"I am so happy to be the first Chinese player to be in a final," she said.
Li had looked down and out at the Australian Open as Wozniacki served for the match at a set, 5-4 and 40-30 up.
However Li escaped danger with a booming forehand down the line before going on to rattle off three games on a bounce to level the match.
And the ninth seed held her nerve in the deciding rubber to secure a 3-6 7-5 6-3 win.
Li will now face third seed Kim Clijsters in Saturday's final - and she will be hoping for a better build up for that match after her husband and coach Jiang Shan had disrupted her preparations for the semi-final.
"I am so happy to be the first Chinese player to be in a final," she said.
Opportunity
"I didn't sleep very well last night, my husband was snoring and I was waking up every hour."
Wozniacki will see the defeat as another missed opportunity, with the Dane facing criticism for being top of the world rankings despite having yet to win a Grand Slam.
Wozniacki had broken Li twice in the first set to and stormed into an early lead in the second set.
However, the pressure began to tell on Wozniacki as she allowed Li back into the match at 4-4.
Li dropped her own serve to gift Wozniacki the chance to see out the match, but she was unable to make the Chinese player pay.
And Li made the most of her let off to edge the deciding set.
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