Li to play Azarenka in Sydney final

China’s Li Na fought back from a set and a break down to delay Petra Kvitova’s bid for the world number one ranking in a tenacious semi-final victory at the Sydney International yesterday.

French Open champion Li recovered to down Wimbledon winner Kvitova 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours of high-class tennis to reach her second consecutive Sydney final where she will face third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

In doing so, world number five Li frustrated the Czech left-hander’s immediate hopes of toppling Caroline Wozniacki from the top of the women’s rankings ahead of next week’s Australian Open in Melbourne.

Kvitova, trailing Wozniacki by just 295 ranking points, would have claimed the number one ranking if she had won the Sydney tournament, with 470 points up for grabs to the winner.

In the other semi-final, Azarenka came back from a set down to beat Wozniacki’s victor from the quarters, Polish seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in almost two hours.

“The way she (Kvitova) was playing in the first set I didn’t know what to do. Give up? I couldn’t do anything,” Li said.

Defeat for the Chinese star looked certain after Kvitova stormed through the opening set losing just one game and broke early in the second set to lead 3-1, but Li took a grip on the match with fearless serving and shot-making.

“I think in the second set the match turned around because her service game was not like the first set where she was hitting winners all the time,” Li added.

Several times Li saved break points with a brave deep second serve to stay in the match.

But as Li continued to frustrate Kvitova’s attempts to finish off the match she gradually clawed back to finish the stronger. Li now leads Kvitova 2-1 in their matches.

It was rejuvenated Li’s fourth win this week, continuing her upsurge in form after a dismal follow-up to her landmark French Open success, which saw her become the first Asian to win a grand slam title.

Li at 29 is the oldest player in the women’s top 10. After winning last year’s Sydney International she went on to reach the Australian Open final, where she lost out to Kim Clijsters in three sets.

Looking ahead to today’s final, Azarenka said of Li: “I think she showed some excellent fighting spirit today really coming back.

“She’s a great ball striker, really clean. She has that heavy shot, so you have to try to hang in there and try to apply pressure, because she does it really well.”