Na Li born February 26, 1982 in Wuhan, Hubei, is a Chinese professional tennis player. As of October 11, 2010, she is currently ranked at No. 7 in the WTA singles rankings. Li achieved her highest ranking of No. 7 on January 27, 2011 making her the highest ranked Chinese player. She has won 4 WTA and 19 ITF titles and was the 2010 Australian Open Semi-finalist along with Chinese compatriot Zheng Jie.She has also been through to the Quarter-Finals at Wimbledon (2006, 2010) and at the US Open (2009). At the 2011 Australian Open, Li Na became the first player from China and Asia to make a Grand Slam final.
Li was the 9th seed at the 2011 Australian Open. She defeated Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson in the first round 6-1 7-5, Russia's Evgeniya Rodina in the second round 6-3 6-2 and Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the third round 6-2 6-1. She advanced to the Quarter Finals after defeating the 8th seed, and world number 9, Belarus' Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-3. She faced Germany's Andrea Petkovic in the quarterfinal, where she won 6-2, 6-4. For the second consecutive year Li reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. In the semi final she won against world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki to reach her first Grand Slam final after saving a match point in the second set, 3-6 7-5 6-3, also becoming the first Chinese female and Oriental Asian female to reach a Grand Slam Singles Final. She will face the No. 3 seed, Kim Clijsters, in the finals. She guaranteed herself a career-high 7th ranking, and will become the 5th if she wins the title.
