Li claims Australian Open triumph Li Na stormed to glory in the Australian Open as she took the title at the third time of asking, beating Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets. The Chinese suffered defeats in the 2011 and 2013 finals but overcame a tough challenge from her Slovakian opponent in the first set before whitewashing her in the second. Lis 7-6 (7-3) 6-0 victory doubled her tally of grand slams, with the 31-year-old having won the French Open in 2011. Cibulkova was the first Slovakian to make a singles grand slam final but the 20th seeds fairytale giant-killing run, which saw her claim the scalps of higher ranked seeds Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep and Carla Suarez Navarro, came to an untimely end. Ultimately it was Lis ability to crunch three times as many winners as Cibulkova (34-11) that proved the difference and the world number fours backhand was especially deadly, with 18 winners compared to the 24-year-olds three. Cibulkova made fewer unforced errors (28-30) but she crucially committed seven double-faults - four more than her tournament average. Li seized the early advantage with a break of serve in the first game, Cibulkova twice double-faulting in a nervy start for the underdog. Despite consolidating that early breakthrough, Li surrendered the initiative with a sloppy service game to allow Cibulkova to tie things up at 3-3. Then, having squandered an opportunity to serve for the set, Li made a superb start to the tie-break, racing to a 5-1 lead before closing it out 7-3. The second set was a far more one-sided affair as Li upped her first-serve percentage, which was 52 in the opener, to 78. With the Chinese winning 71 per cent of points on her first serve in what proved to be the decisive set, Cibulkova simply could not keep pace with her more experienced opponent.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 09:28:52 +0000
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