Li triumphs at Australian Open

(Rank/Seed)

4/4 Li won her second major and her first at Melbourne with a 76(3) 60 win over upset queen (21/20) Cibulkova, as I predicted she would. A heavy favourite going into the match, Li ultimately conquered her nerves to become the oldest champion at the event in the Open Era at 31 years of age. She also joins just 3 other women (Seles, Capriati and Serena Williams) in winning the title having been match point down at some point. 

1st Set
Both players were nervous in the first few games for obviously different reasons and unforced errors were frequent. Li didn't look confident despite taking a 3-1 lead and it was Cibulkova who seemed to settle quicker in winning the next 3 games in a row to lead 4-3 behind some forceful hitting. Though Li's backhand was smoking hot as always, her forehand was erratic and Cibulkova seemed to target it more so as the two remained on serve through 5-5, when Li made what seemed to be the critical break. However, a missed backhand down the line up set point led to Li finding herself broken for a second time, forcing the set into the tiebreak, an occurrence that had happened in their last two meetings. It was from here that Li showed her champion's quality, suddenly looking as if there was no pressure at all as she overpowered Cibulkova, particularly off the second serve return to take the set, which had lasted over the hour.

2nd Set
Despite a close first game where Li battled back from 0-30 down to hold, she never was in trouble again. She suddenly couldn't miss off either wing and Cibulkova, try as she might was powerless to resist the stream of winners passing her. Li's heavy weight of shot constantly pushed Cibulkova back and out of position, so she was unable to play the aggressive tennis which had bettered Sharapova and battered Radwanska. Li consummately took Cibulkova's weak serve apart and converted her second match point as Cibulkova's forehand drifted long.

Li made a classic acceptance speech, typically at her husband's expense that had the crowd in hysterics whilst Cibulkova was unsurprisingly emotional after having come so close. Still, Cibulkova should be incredibly proud of what she's achieved here, though the question remains can she keep it up? For Li, the focus is on perhaps becoming the number one now that she will be literally a few points from being number two, which at this point she deserves considering her perfect 12-0 start to the season.