Chinese Li Na staged a comeback fight, after being 5-1 down in
the first set to defeat Russian 15th seed Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 7-5
and move on to the Pacific Life Open semifinals yesterday.
Under the heat of Indian Wells, California, Li progressed to the
semifinals for the first time in her career ready to face the
winner of the clash between Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and
Shahar Peer of Israel.
Li was too powerful for Zvonareva, breaking her serve five times
during the match and slamming 24 winners past the Russian in a
match lasting 1 hour, 27 minutes.
Last year saw Li lead a glut of Chinese female stars to success
with Li becoming the first Chinese athlete to reach a Grand Slam
singles quarter-final at Wimbledon.
This is Li's second semifinal in 2007 after falling to Kim
Clijsters at the WTA Sydney event.
Zvonareva's exit from Indian Wells was a shock, coming a day
after she defeated defending champion Maria Sharapova of Russia
4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Li, the first Chinese to be ranked in the top 20 players in the
world, went on a six-game winning streak to take the match,
fighting off two set points in the tenth game to level the set at
5-5.
(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2007)