Defending champion Li Na reached the Sydney International final with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 over Petra Kvitova yesterday, ending the Czech’s bid to become No. 1 before the Australian Open.
Kvitova needed to win the Sydney International to replace Caroline Wozniacki atop the rankings when they are updated on Monday, and the Wimbledon champion was on track when she led by a set and a break.
However, Li rallied strongly to reach back-to-back finals at Sydney, where she will meet No. 3-ranked Victoria Azarenka in today’s decider. Azarenka beat Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the other semi-final.
Photo: EPA
Li reached the Australian Open final last year two weeks after winning in Sydney.
She went one better at the next major, winning the French Open to become the first player from China to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Li’s form dipped at the end of last season and she lost in the second round at Wimbledon and the opening round at the US Open, but she started to get back into form in the earlier rounds at Sydney.
Photo: Reuters
A pep talk from her husband and coach Shan Jiang after the first set against Kvitova helped refocus Li.
“OK, he said: ‘If you play same like this, you’ll lose match easy,’” said Li, who has developed a reputation for playfully ridiculing her husband in post-match interviews.
After the win over Kvitova, who beat Wozniacki at the Hopman Cup last week, Li said she was back to about where she was at this time last year.
Photo: AFP
“I’m back and I am feeling stronger, not only in my body, but also in my mind,” Li said. “It was a big win for me today against Petra, especially after she won Istanbul [the WTA Championships] and the Hopman Cup.”
In men’s quarter-finals, 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis beat top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 7-6 (7), 6-4.
He will play Julien Benneteau, of France, who beat Alex Bogomolov Jr, of Russia, 6-2, 6-4.
Also, Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan beat third-seeded Richard Gasquet of France 6-4, 7-6 (4) to set up a semi-final against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, who had a 6-3, 6-3 win over the US’ Bobby Reynolds.
HEINEKEN OPEN
AP, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Belgian veteran Olivier Rochus rallied from a break down in the third set to beat Benoit Paire’s 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4) and end the French qualifier’s giant-killing run at the Heineken Open.
The 30-year-old Rochus, a former finalist in Auckland, trailed 4-2 in the deciding set, but recovered to win in a tiebreak, ousting Paire, who had beaten former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero and fourth-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela in his first two main draw matches.
Paire sent down 21 aces yesterday and dominated at times, but the dogged Rochus kept fighting, winning the match in two-and-a-half hours to set up a semi-final against eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Kohlschreiber, the 2008 champion, reached the Auckland semi-finals for the third time with 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over second-seeded Nicolas Almagro.
Rochus won the first set against Paire in 37 minutes after a break in the second game. Paire, who has become a crowd favorite for his flamboyant style, looked tired early on in his sixth game after winning three matches in qualifying and two in the main draw.
Rochus dropped serve in the sixth game of the second set but immediately broke back, taking the set to 6-5 when rain forced the players from the court for two-and-a-half hours.
Paire took the second set tiebreak 7-5, winning the set in 54 minutes with a brilliant mixture of powerful serves, volleys and dropshots.
He hurled down 10 aces in the third set alone and, after breaking Rochus in the first game, held for a 4-2 lead. However, Rochus broke back to tie the set at 4-4 and to send it into another tiebreak, which he was able to control.
“I think after the rain, we both played much better than before,” Rochus said. “I think even if I had lost I couldn’t have played any better. We both played 100 percent and from the baseline we both played to our best level.”
Kohlschreiber took the first set from world No. 10 Almagro in 53 minutes. He then broke Almagro in the last game of the second set to clinch the match.
“It was not the best season for me last year, so I’m very happy to beat such a good player,” Kohlschreiber said.
Third-seeded Fernando Verdasco was due to play his doubles partner Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and top-seeded David Ferrer was to play Colombia’s Alejandro Falla later yesterday.
HOBART INTERNATIONAL
AP, HOBART, AUSTRALIA
Qualifier Mona Barthel beat defending champion Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 yesterday to move into the semi-finals at the Hobart International.
Barthel, who ousted second-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues in the second round, will next meet fellow German Angelique Kerber.
Kerber, who finished with a year-end No. 32 ranking after reaching the US Open semi-finals, advanced with a 6-0, 3-6, 7-5 win over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.
Top-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium reached the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Simona Halep of Romania and will next play sixth-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel.
Peer advanced when Anna Chakvetadze had to retire from their semi-final in the third set with severe cramping. Chakvetadze won the first set 6-4, but lost the second set 6-4 and needed treatment at the break. She quit when she was down 1-0 in the third.
KOOYONG CLASSIC
AP, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Bernard Tomic moved into the final of the Kooyong exhibition tournament with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2) win over Frenchman Gael Monfils yesterday that will boost his confidence ahead of the Australian Open next week.
The Australian teenager beat world No. 7 Tomas Berdych in his opening match and then controlled the first and third sets against Monfils in his second match at the invitational tournament. He will next meet the winner of today’s semi-final between the US’ Mardy Fish and Austria’s Jurgen Melzer.
World No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 to Japan’s Kei Nishikori, a late inclusion after Canada’s Milos Raonic withdrew because of a stomach complaint after losing his opening match.
Tsonga, who won the Qatar Open against a strong field last week, lost both his matches at Kooyong.
American Andy Roddick beat Berdych 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the late match after losing to Monfils on Wednesday.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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