Former French Open champion Li Na knocked out fourth-seeded Polish Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets to reach her third Australian Open semifinals today.
The Chinese top player's 7-5, 6-3 victory will set her up with a semifinal meeting against the winner between last year runner Maria Sharapova and her fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, whose match will be played later today.
Li won an unpredictable first set lasting 66 minutes. In a match featuring 10 breaks of serve, six of which by the No. 4 seed Chinese, Li won five games in a row after trailing 0-2 in the second set. Serving for the match, Li saved two break points before winning the one-hour-42-minute quarterfinal.
Li ended the Polish's 13-match winning streak in the year to reach her third semifinal at the Melbourne Park. She made into the last four here in 2010 and 2011. Li lost to Kim Clijsters in 2011's final just before she took her first and only Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2011.
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