Kim Clijsters comes from behind to oust Li Na in the fourth round – Australian Open 2012
Defending champion, Kim Clijsters, made an epic comeback to overpower the Chinese number one, Li Na, in a three set nail biter at the Australian Open 2012 on Sunday. She formulated a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 victory over the world number six to advance into the quarter-finals at this Grand Slam event taking place in Melbourne, Australia.
Meeting each other for the eighth time, the Belgian rallied past Li to not only extend lead in their head-to-head series by 6-2 but also stayed on track to defend her title. The veterans previously met each other in the title-round at this tournament last year where Clijsters outclassed the Chinese in three sets.
The 2011 French Open titlist, Li stormed into the first set at the Rod Lever Arena and drew the first blood in the opening game. Apart from losing her next two serves and going 3-1 down, she remained focus and snatched the break back in the fifth game. Later, the Chinese kept remaining serves and capitalised on another break chance in the ninth game, sealing the opener with a 6-4 win.
Belgian number one carried her losing ways in the second set and lost her serve in the third game to trail 1-2. However, she redeployed her strategy and snatched the break back in the sixth game, levelling the scores at 3-3. Clijsters then maintained her intensity and kept remaining serves, ultimately dragging the set to a tie-breaker. She prevailed in it and clinched the equaliser with a 7-6(6) score line.
Climbing to the number one spot at the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings last year, Clijsters recreated her magic in the last set and went on a four games killing spree before the Chinese could hold on. Despite losing her serve in the eighth game, she kept remaining serves and sealed the decider by winning six games to four.
Next challenge for the Belgian ace is the world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, who slew the Serbian number one, Jelena Jankovic, with a bagel to set-up this clash.
"I just need to play my game and play the same way as I did today. If I do, Kim really needs to play well to beat me," said the Danish number one about Clijsters. "It's important to think about myself and I believe I'm a great player. So if I lose to someone who just played better than me that day, I'll just take my hat off and say, 'Well done,' and I'll be back next time to try and do better. Kim is a great player. She has won a lot. She's done a lot throughout her career."
Currently ranked 14th in the WTA rankings, Clijsters is leading the head-to-head series by 2-0 against the Dane. In addition to this, the Belgian crushed Wozniacki in straight sets at the Diamond Games, an exhibition event held last month in Belgium. This was her comeback match and Clijsters displayed tremendous skills to upset the Dane. However, she needs to improve her game and spill fewer unforced errors in order to overwhelm resilience posed by the top seed. The Belgian also hammered fewer aces in her fourth round match and she needs to improve her form to advance further in this tournament.
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