Sunday, 20 January, 2008
By Bren O’Brien
World No.146 Marta Domachowska has ended Li Na’s Australian Open charge, defeating the No.24 seed 2-6 6-2 6-4 on Court 6.
Domachowska dug deep after losing the first set and made her way into the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, wrapping up the match in one hour and 40 minutes.
She joins fellow Pole Agnieska Radwanska in the final 16, and now plays Venus Williams for a spot in the quarter finals.
Li got the first break of the first set and raced to a 3-0 lead. Domachowska created opportunities to get back on serve, but couldn’t get on an even keel, surrendering the set when she was broken for a second time in the eighth game.
Domachowska had four break points in the third game of the second set, before finally getting her first beak of the match. She followed that with another break and went on to take the set comfortably to level the match.
The Pole had regained the momentum and got the first break of the decider, but not to be denied, Li continued to rally, breaking her straight back. Both players were under pressure on serve and Li fought back from a break point to hold serve in the fifth game. But she finally conceded her serve in the ninth, giving her opponent a chance to serve for the match. Domachowska took it with an ace on match point.
Match Facts:
- Li had 26 winners, Domachowska 21
- Domachowska won 88 points, Li 87
- Domachowska served eight aces
- Domachowska had 44 unforced errors, Li 35
- There were seven breaks of serve, three to Li, four to Domachowska |
