• Australian Open, Day 11

Li reaches historic final against Clijsters

Caroline Wozniacki exits another Grand Slam ahead of schedule © Getty Images

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Li Na has become the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam singles final after ending world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki's dream of winning her first major title in their Australian Open semi-final on Thursday.

The historic semi-final was played at a level befitting the occasion, as two evenly-matched players duked it out for nearly three hours before Li completed a come-from-behind 3-6 7-5 6-3 victory having recovered from match-point down in the second set.

Li's Melbourne love affair continued as she backed up her semi-final appearance of last year by going one better this year. The 28-year-old has become a fan-favourite down under with her gutsy performances and quirky post-match interviews and she will have strong underdog appeal in Saturday's final, which falls on her five-year wedding anniversary.

Wozniacki's Grand Slam curse goes on despite her No.1 ranking. She can never truly arrive as a serious star of the women's game until she gets a major title under her belt and her wait must continue, although she would have no regrets after playing a strong match in the glaring summer heat.

It was a match of fine margins with Li's big hitting matched nicely with Wozniacki's expert retrieval. The Chinese pocket dynamo contrasts physically with the great Dane and her superior wingspan, but the result was an even match where service seemed to matter little, and deuce was commonly found.

The match was 'on Li's racquet' due to her dominant power but she got the balance of shot-making wrong in the first set, hitting 17 unforced errors for just seven winners. She tweaked her game tactically and for the rest of the match hit 35 winners for 34 errors, a decisive statistic.

But Wozniacki was no pushover, varying her shots to disrupt Li's game and taking her own opportunities when presented with them. But in a snapshot of her inability to go all the way in a Grand Slam tournament, she let Li off having earned match point and the momentum fatefully shifted at that moment.

In a tense and dramatic final set, Wozniacki eventually ran out of challenges as millimetres defined points on numerous occasions. Li showed a few signs of nerves and fatigue as the rallies wore on but she eventually proved her resolve to earn a place in the final.

Li admitted afterwards she had started to tighten up in the deciding set: "I'm so happy I can be the first Chinese player to come into a final. Of course for a semi-final I was a little bit nervous. I didn't have a good evening last night. My husband sleep like this [snore sound]. I was waking up every hour!"

She kept the Rod Laver Arena crowd laughing with her next answer, when asked what got her through a taxing third set: "Prizemoney."

The crowd-pleaser's English is not 100% but her understated sense of humour is spot on for the Aussie audience. Asked whether her mother would come to watch her play in the final, she said: "I asked her many times, please come with me. She says 'I have my own life, I won't come with you'."

Li will take on Kim Clijsters, who beat Vera Zvonareva in straight sets 6-3 6-3 to reach her second Melbourne final.

Similar to the other final, it was a matter of hitter versus retriever, but No.2 seed Zvonareva's defence was not strong enough to withstand the Clijsters onslaught. Zvonareva was caught well behind the baseline for her returns as the third seed and 2004 finalist here punished her shots deep into the court.

The final will be played between the two form players of the tournament, with only Clijsters' superior pedigree and experience giving her the edge.

However Li has already beaten Clijsters this year, claiming a 7-6 6-3 victory in the WTA event in Sydney in the lead-up to the Open.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.