Li Na Beats Cibulkova to Capture First Australian Open

International New York Times | 25 Jan. 2014

Li Na overcame a shaky first set to easily defeat Dominika Cibulkova, 7-6, 6-0, on Saturday. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

MELBOURNE, Australia — As upsets threw the women’s singles draw at the Australian Open into chaos, Li Na won and won until one day she looked up and she was favored.

While that standing was unfamiliar, her place in the final was not. Li, the fourth seed from China, reached the last women’s match here in both 2011 and 2013, and even though she won the first set in both those matches, she ended up with a pair of runner-up trophies. To add to the embarrassment of those losses, she fell twice in the 2013 finale against Victoria Azarenka. On one fall, her head collided with the court.

Li’s latest final opponent, Dominika Cibulkova, arrived at their matchup having defeated a series of favorites along the way. Cibulkova defeated the No. 16 (Carla Suarez Navarro), No. 3 (Maria Sharapova), No. 11 (Simona Halep) and No. 5 (Agnieszka Radwanska) seeds, in that order, to reach the final.

On Saturday at Melbourne Park, though, Cibulkova ran into the one seed she would not topple with power groundstrokes. Li overcame a shaky first set to win easily, 7-6 (3), 6-0. It marked her second career Grand Slam title, after her French Open triumph in 2011, and it came despite a match-point saved here in the third round.

Li struggled in the first set, first with her first serve, which she hardly ever landed in, then with her forehand, which Cibulkova repeatedly attacked. A 3-1 lead turned into a 4-3 deficit, and when Cibulkova fought off a set point down, 6-5, it seemed fair to wonder whether Li would then collapse. Instead, she scratched ahead and won the tie-break.

The second set took only slightly longer than a trip to the concession stand. Li found her rhythm, and as she landed shots with greater regularity, she took more chances. As she took more chances, she took control.

After a short break, the championship ceremony started. Li fought back tears as the suits made a few too forgettable thank-you-sponsor speeches. One of the suits introduced her as a winner among the most popular in tournament history. Chris Evert handed her the trophy.

Li congratulated her opponent and her team and her husband, who she noted was “famous” in China, and who she said fixed her drink and fixed her rackets and was “so lucky to find me.”

“You guys think I talk too much,” she said, and then she thanked the crowd and walked off-court, a one-time Slam winner no more.