Li Na overcame a second set slip-up to advance to her first Sony Open final. The world number two defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 to maintain a perfect win loss record (7-0) against the newly minted top ten player.
Li and Cibulkova have faced each other three times so far this season including the Australian
Open final where the Chinese superstar won her second career Grand Slam title.
“I’m so happy I can be in the final here for the first time,” Li said during the on-court interview. “Thanks to everyone who came to watch – I know it was cold tonight, but I hope you enjoyed the match.”
“The only things I could do were run as much as I could and fight for every point,” she added.
Li became the first Chinese player to reach the semifinals and final here at the Premier Mandatory event. She’s aiming to win the title for the first time but will face a formidable opponent in the championship round – against six-time champion Serena Williams.
“It’s a good challenge, I think,” she said. “The last time I played her was in the WTA Championships, so three, four months already. Here we can really see how I’ve improved in these three, four months.”
Serena Williams advanced to her ninth Sony Open final after defeating Maria Sharapova in the semifinals earlier in the day.
