Li Na has failed in her quest to become the first Chinese winner of a tennis grand slam but she pushed new Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters to the limit in doing so. Despite losing the first set the Belgian fought back to end what has been a magical run for Li.

 

Third seed Clijsters blasted an ace on the first point, then broke Li to love to charge to a 2-0 lead.

The nervous starter Li saved two break points at 3-2 down and punished Clijsters in the next game, chasing down a weak volley by her opponent to earn two break points and then pressuring the Belgian into netting a backhand to take a 4-3 lead.

Li held the serve and went on to win the two set points to take the first set 6-3.

Having charged through the first set by a 6-3 margin in 38 minutes, Li stumbled in the opening game of the second, netting a backhand to give Clijsters a breakpoint, then double-faulting to trail 1-0.

Different from the first set, it was Clijsters who had a 4-3 lead over Li. From 3-2 down, the tennis supermum peeled off six straight games to seize the second set and surge ahead 2-0 in the third.

The same as the second set, it was also the Belgian who dominated the match, 6-3, the first women to snare back-to-back grand slam crowns since Serea Williams completed the same US Open-Australian Open double in 2008-09.

Through frustrated, Li Na still has written a new page in Asian sports.