Li Na upsets Petra Kvitova to move into the title match – Apia International Sydney 2012
Chinese world number five, Li Na, defeated the hot favourite world number two, Petra Kvitova, in the semi-final of the Apia International Sydney on Thursday. An epic three-setter encounter lasted for almost two hours before Li
pulled up an upset to dump the second seed with a score of 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Li’s husband c*m coach at the sidelines was the one that jumped rigorously with joy after seeing her queen placing the berth in the grand finale of the tournament. Two encounters between these contenders were played last year;
Kvitova defeated Li in Madrid Open and just 23 days later, the Chinese had her revenge in the Roland Garros French Open.
Kvitova started the match in grand style having broken her opponent’s serve twice in succession. She held her serves as well to take 4-0 lead at the start. She rounded off the first set sparing just one game for her opponent. Everyone
thought this encounter would be over but Li had other plans in her mind.
Both players hung on to their respective serves in the opening three games, as the second set kicked off with a sloppy start. Two breaks were exchanged in the next two games; scores further pushed to 3-3. No more breaks in the
next four games pressed the score card to 5-5. Chinese fourth seed pulled up a crucial break in the eleventh game and made no mistake in hanging on to her serve in the next to take the second set.
Final set started with a bang for the Chinese, as her opponent made two unforced errors that included a double-fault serve as well. It helped the fourth seed to break in the first set and build up some momentum in her favour. She
held her serve in the second set to double the lead. Match moved on as both players continued to hang on to their serves and pushed the scores to 4-2 in the meantime.
Pressure played its part and the Chinese broke once again and held her serve to place a berth in the final. Li Na contests against the winner of the match between the seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska and the third seed Victoria
Azarenka.
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