Venus Williams in shock upset to Li Na at the Australian Open

Li Na celebrates after beating Venus Williams at the Australian Open
(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Li Na celebrates after beating Venus Williams at the Australian Open
Image :1 of 2
Sophie Tedmanson
Venus Williams threw away a one-set lead as Li Na progressed to the semi-finals of the Australian Open in a scrappy match where they made a combined 110 unforced errors.
The American No 6 seed took the first set and led 4-2 in the second but was stunned when the Chinese hit back to win 2-6, 7-6, 7-5.
Williams, who has won seven grand-slam titles but never been at her best in Melbourne, making only one final in 11 attempts, said Li had been the better player. "I think I was playing good tennis - I don't think it has anything to do with whether I was playing good," she said. "I have to give her a lot of credit for playing well and picking her game up."
Making the semi-finals of a grand slam for the first time was a dream come true for Li. "It's the best day of my whole life," she said. "It's good for Chinese tennis."

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Li, the world No 17, set herself a goal this year of breaking into the top ten, and will now achieve that after reaching the semi-finals.
"It's so exciting, maybe I'll have a beer tonight," she said. "My goal this year was top ten, but now it's only January, so it's come quickly." When asked whether she will dream about reaching the top five she replied: "Maybe - why not?"
Serena Williams staged a comeback of her own to reach the semi-finals.
The defending champion and 11-time grand-slam winner was down 4-6, 0-4 to seventh seed Victoria Azarenka before she got back on track, winning a tense tie-breaker 7-4 to level the match.
Azarenka was visibly rattled and Williams rammed home her advantage in the final set to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 and set up a last four clash with Li.
Williams had been in imposing form in reaching the last eight, but she made a string of unforced errors and battled to control her serve early against the Belarussian, who she beat last year on her way to the title. But with her left knee and right thigh bandaged, she began to swing freely and her game snapped back to its dominant best.
Williams found it hard to believe she had won after having been down two service breaks in the second set. "I am surprised and I am just happy to still be here," she said. "I didn't expect to win when I was down 0-4. I was like 'well at least I am still in the doubles'.
"I was thinking if I lost today and lost the doubles I could get a flight home on Friday."
Earlier today, Laura Robson defeated Romania’s Christina Dinu 6-3, 6-3 in the third round of the junior girls’ tournament. Robson will take to the court again later on with Australia’s Sally Peers for their women’s doubles quarter-finals match against Russian Maria Kirilenko and Agnieszka Radwanksa from Poland.
Thursday's other semi-final is between Justine Henin and the unseeded Zheng Jie, with China having two players in the last four of a grand slam for the first time.
Andy Murray, who defeated Rafael Nadal yesterday, plays 14th seed Marin Cilic in the first men's semi-final tomorrow with Roger Federer facing Nikolay Davydenko and Novak Djokovic against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in quarter-final action today.
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