Na Li plays Andrea Petkovic in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
Li reached the semi-finals in Melbourne last year, beating Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki along the way and the in-form Chinese star will be strong favourite to reach that stage again. Li won the Medibank International, days before the Australian Open, a performance which left Kim Clijsters suggesting she can go all the way here.
The ninth seed has done little to discourage such thoughts. While many of the more illustrious names have tumbled, Li has cruised her way into the last eight with the minimum of fuss, yet to even come close to dropping a set. She was extremely impressive in dispatching Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday.
Petkovic has been playing well and is definitely one for the future but the German has enjoyed slices of fortune in the past couple of rounds. First Venus Williams took to the court crippled by a muscle strain and had to retire after just one game and then Maria Sharapova put in an abysmal serving display in the fourth round though full credit must go to Petkovic for taking advantage in convincing fashion.
Expect Li to progress again in straight sets
