Li Na rolls over Radwanska in straights

Li Na beating Agniezszka Radwanka (henceforth known as Aggie) on a hard court should not be considered an upset but a formality. But the numbers, 8 and 4, the respective seeds of the two, meant that should Li Na win, an upset it would be.
But a quick glance at their playing styles is enough to give a good idea of who should be the victor at a hard court Major, a surface that should favor the attacker. Aggie is a deadly consistent, super-defensive, never say die type who wins Premier titles; Li Na is a big-hitting player who on her day can beat anyone, as she did on her run to the French Open final in 2011 and her run to the final in Melbourne in 2010. On a hard court, Li Na has proven to be the more effective, thrashing Aggie as she has in Beijing and Montreal in past encounters. But in their most recent battle in the Sydney semifinal, with both women on a 8 match winning streak, Aggie’s defense got the better of Li Na’s attack, an attack which on its day can be so bad that its wretchedness is too strong for even Li Na herself.
Aggie was still on her winning streak when the two met today in the first Melbourne quarterfinal to be played, 13 matches and counting, yet to drop a set.Things looked like they might continue in this marchly fashion as a Li double fault handed her a break point. Aggie got busy doing her thing, the thing that has gotten her to world number four. She hit to the backhand, to the forehand, moving Li Na from side to side until Li Na fell into the trap. Having had enough of being on the other end of Aggie’s string, Li Na did what she does best, she went for her shot, going down the line with the forehand. But it was too much, too soon, as it so often is, which was exactly what Aggie had wished for, and the shot went wide. Aggie, whose inner delight at her strategy paying off in such an important match would have, if it had manifested itself on her face, resulted in a smile as wild as the Jokers, had broken and would serve for the set, a repeat of the Sydney result on the cards, the possibility of her first Australian Open semifinal from three attempts a game and a set away.
A set down to Radwanska is no enticing prospect for any one. And Li Na was having none of it. Li went on her own march at this point. She painted the line with a forehand winner, hit a down the line forehand winner for 30-0, spun a winning forehand passing shot to earn three break points and took the first one as she ripped a backhand down the line return to force an error of Aggie and break back. Li Na held and then with Aggie serving, turned her level up a notch as the two traded ground strokes. Biding her time, refusing to be frustrated into an error, Li Na hit a huge forehand down the line for a winner to get set point. A winning smash and she was a set up.
But as quick as Li Na can up her level, she can implode. And Aggie loves an implosion, winning 8 points in a row as the balls that had been painting the lines now graffitied errors. Li Na, for whom implosions can last until Game, Set and Match is called against her, ended the run with a forehand drive volley, her seventeenth point at the net, before going on to win the game with an ace, the implosion survived, an unusual silky patience veiling her play. At 1-2, a backhand down the line off a short ball and she had break point. She had turned it up again, smacking a back hand down the line on the return to force an error.
2-2. A perfect forehand volley at 15-0 and Li’s intentions were clear. This match was going to be won by her aggression and not by her being run ragged. And it was an intention she was in the mood to carry out, as she forced another rare forehand error from Aggie, leaving the Pole roaring in frustration, a condition she usually forces on her opponent. Another error, a backhand into the net, and it was Game Li Na. A backhand winner down the line, another one hit off a classic Aggie softball designed to draw an error, a forehand volley winner to the backhand corner and Ni La had dismantled the Pole who gave away the break with a double fault.
4-2 and another backhand down the line winner and Li Na had won nine points in a row to make 40-0, a backhand into the net ending the streak. A heavy backhand hit to the Aggie backhand forces and error and seals the game. Aggie made her last stand, serve and volleying to bring the run of five games against her to an end, a play she rarely does but unable to defend, she had no choice but to attack.
Serving at 5-3, Li saw what she already knew: that the Pole was not going to go away. Digging balls back in play, she hustled an error off Li for 15-40. A chance. A year back Clisters had come back from match points down against Li, a defeat that reduced the Chinese to tears. That defeat had clearly taught her well. Employing controlled, patient hitting, Li Na hit the ball deep and drew a forehand error from Aggie. On the very next point, Li Na did the very same routine, yielding the same result to get to deuce. She was not going to collapse in a heap of errors in the latter stages in Melbourne again, her weaknesses overcome as she found safety in the margins. The threats of break points passed, in the safer territory of deuce, Li went for her shot and struck an angled backhand crosscourt winner. Match point. She went for it again, going for a forehand down the line, her play-making rewarded as Aggie’s errored on the backhand, to win the match.
Her first Major semifinal since that historic Roland Garross victory earned, thanks to her new controlled aggressive net-friendly game, flowered in part by her new coach Carlos Rodgriguez, Henin’s former ‘boss’, Li Na had finally emerged from the weed-ridden wilderness she has been in the last season, the ghosts of her meltdown here last year put to rest, the prospect of another Major final to be played for ahead.