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Li Na joins Zheng Jie in quarter-finals
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Li Na of China greets the audience after winning the women's singles fourth round match against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. |
Li Na, advanced to quarter-finals, says, "Before the match, my coach kept encouraging me to boost my confidence. Actually, I felt very good in this morning's training. And I played very calmly during the competition."
Li Na, who skipped the 2009 Australian Open due to a knee injury, will meet American Venus Williams for a place in the semifinals.
As a former world number one and multiple grand slam winner, Williams is almost certain to start as the favourite, although Li can draw confidence from her only previous encounter with the American. That was at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, also in the quarter-finals, with Li emerging triumphant 7-5 7-5.
Earlier, Zheng Jie became the first Chinese to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals in its 105-year history when she powered past No. 31 seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 7-6, 6-4.
Zheng will next play Maria Kirilenko for a place in the semifinals. The Chinese player has four wins in five previous meetings against Kirilenko. If previous history is any indication, Zheng is in good position to make even more history in Melbourne.
