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DOHA: China’s Li Na, who hopes to challenge for a medal at the
Beijing Olympics, and Maria Sharapova, who’ll be one of the
favorites in the Chinese capital, both stormed into the Qatar Open
semifinals on Friday.
Li got the better of her third top 20 victim in
a row when she enjoyed a 6-3, 6-4 success against Jelena Jankovic,
the world number four from Serbia to add to her wins over Anna
Chakvetadze, the fifth-seeded Russian, and Shahar Peer, the 12th
seeded Israeli.
The victories have carried Li to the semifinals
of this $2.5 million event, the first time she has reached
this stage in a tier one tournament. They also continued her great
start to 2008 after taking six months off.
Asked why she was playing so well now, Li said:
“Maybe because my husband just gave me a credit card—no I’m
joking.”
Li will now face experienced Russian Vera
Zvonereva while Sharapova, who brushed aside Denmark’s Caroline
Wozniacki 6-0, 6-1, will tackle Agnieszka Radwanska, the Polish girl
who knocked her out of the 2007 US Open.
Li’s success hinged on making the first
aggressive hit in the rally and striking the ball more powerfully
than Jankovic, forcing her highly rated opponent to contain and
defend more often.
Li created history when she became the first
Chinese singles player to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal at
Wimbledon two years ago and the first to reach the world’s top 20.
Radwanska achieved her first Grand Slam
quarterfinal in Australia last month and has now reached her first
WTA Tour semifinal with a three-hour 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 win against
another 18-year-old, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
-- AFP
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