Li Na will meet Dominika Cibulkova in the Australian Open final after the Slovakian continued a tournament of upsets by thrashing Agnieszka Radwanska.
Cibulkova’s only previous grand slam semi-final came at the 2009 French Open but she appeared nerveless in routing fifth seed Radwanska 6-1, 6-2. The Pole played a superb match to beat defending champion Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals but she was unable to stamp her unique style on the match in the face of an onslaught from her opponent. Cibulkova is only 5ft 3in tall but her drilled groundstrokes were too much for Radwanska to cope with.
The result will be a major disappointment for Radwanska, who had won five of her previous six matches against Cibulkova, including a 6-0, 6-0 victory in the final of the WTA Tour event in Sydney last year, The Guardian informs.
The 24-year-old’s only grand slam final came at Wimbledon in 2012, but she was the highest-ranked player in the last four at the All England Club last year only to lose to Sabine Lisicki.
Cibulkova is the first Slovakian ever to make a grand slam singles final, and she said: “The most important game was when I won my serve for 5-2. Then I knew I was going to do it. I can’t believe this is happening.”
