Martina Hingis played spoilsport at the Australian Open yesterday by denying another Chinese entry in the record books.
The Swiss withstood a fierce onslaught from Li Na to set up a tantalising quarter-final against fourth seed Kim Clijsters. Li was looking to become China's first singles quarter-finalist atMelbourne Park but, having held the upper hand for a set, she withered away under a hot sun to exit 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Clijsters had proved to be a roadblock for Daniela Hantuchova in eight previous meetings and the Belgian, the title favourite, once more proved an impenetrable obstacle as she romped to a 6-1, 7-5 win in 79 minutes after a wild error sealed the Slovakian's fate.
Clijsters and Hingis, the sixth seed, restored calm at the Open a day after five women's seeds, including defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, were eliminated. But Li, who became China's first Grand Slam singles quarter-finalist at Wimbledon last year, used her searing backhands to baffle Hingis early on in a match that became increasingly error-strewn.
Hingis said: "She came out on fire. I've never played her before so I knew it would be a difficult match. Thankfully, after the first set, I played much better."
After securing the win, Hingis, a three-time former champion, had a message for her friend Clijsters. "Kim better win, I'll be waiting, I'll be watching," she said, hoping for the chance of a repeat matchup after the pair met in last year's quarter-finals.
Clijsters duly obliged. She was in rampant mood in the opening set and showed no signs of easing off in the second as she opened up a 3-0 lead.
Staring at the lopsided score and facing an embarrassing defeat, Hantuchova snapped herself out of a stupor.
She rallied to level at 5-5 before her resistance crumbled.
And, with thoughts turned to the next round, Clijsters said: "It's always a pleasure to play against her [Hingis]. She's such a great champion. "I feel a little bit better with each match. Hopefully, I can keep improving."
Anna Chakvetadze avoided the fate of her Russian compatriots Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva, who were knocked out on Sunday, when she reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over eighth seed Patty Schnyder.
