World No.6 Li Na of China failed to advance to her second Grand Slam final of the season after losing to top seed Serena Williams of the US 0-6, 3-6 at the US Open here at the Flushing Meadows.
Li Na missed the chance to have a second Grand Slam show after reaching the Australian Open final earlier this season. The 31-year-old had reached at least the quarterfinals in three of the four Grand Slams this year, reports Xinhua.
"I have had a more stable season this year. No matter if I win or lose, I always want to improve. I hope next season I can do better," said Li.
The first set was totally under the dominance of Williams. The winner of 16 Grand Slams converted all three break points to beat Li 6-0, another clean sweep after she overwhelmed Spaniard Suarez Navarron 6-0, 6-0 in the quarters.
"I got a little nervous but I was able to close it out," said Williams.
Li tried hard to recover from the second set. She held her own serve in the second game, winning her first game in the match and then broke Williams' service game to get a 2-1 lead.
However, Li failed to take chances to extend the lead to 3-1 when she was 40-0 up in the fourth game. Williams managed to accomplish another break to level the score to 2-2.
The World No.1 was difficult to play against when she got her rhythm. She took three straight games to take a 5-2 lead. The Chinese saved as many as six matchpoints in the eighth game of the second set. However, Williams served out the match in the ninth.
Williams will face Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, the same opponent in last year's final, to fight for her 17th Grand Slam title Sunday.
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