Third Time Lucky for Li

Na Li is one of those players who always felt at ease in Melbourne. Judging by her results, we can even say that this is her best Grand Slam. The Chinese star had has great results here, reaching the semifinals in four of the last five seasons. She even came extremely close to winning the title in 2011 and 2013, losing two epic battles to Kim Clijsters, respectively to Victoria Azarenka. This year though, she was not to be denied. 

After a great start in Shenzhen, where she successfully defended her crown, Li arrived in Melbourne determined to improve last year's runner-up showing. After quick dismissals of young guns Croat Ana Konjuh and Swiss Belinda Bencic, the Chinese trailblazer run into deep troubles against Czech Lucie Safarova. Safarova easily bagged the first set and even had match point in the second, before Li marched on an extraordinary comeback to triumph 1-6,7-6,6-3. Once she dug herself out of the rabbit hole, Na Li was untroubled as she finally got to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. Taking advantage of an open draw, she saw off Russian Ekaterina Makarova, Italian Flavia Pennetta, Canadian darling Eugenie Bouchard, and surprising Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova to add a second Grand Slam trophy to her cabinet. None of these player took a set of Li; only Cibulkova stretched her to the limits in the opening set of the final, but Li remained mentally strong to close that out in a tiebreak. 

With favourites Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, and Maria Sharapova failing miserably, Na Li proved she is a true champion. Playing sharp tennis and remaining focused throughout the fortnight, she backed up her 2011 Roland Garros triumph to shake off the 'One-Slam Wonder' tag.

Li's current coach, the legendary Carlos Rodriguez, plays an essential role in Li's recent success. In her interview, the Chinese talked about how much Carlos, Justine Henin's former coach, has helped her fight the inner demons and start believe in herself: "Before the match he was telling me to relax, just think it's a match, don't think it's a final. When he was coaching me, he always say 'believe in yourself.' He always believed in me, I never believed in myself. That was my problem."

A fan-favourite all over the world, Li won a few more hearts with her humorous speech. She first thanked her agent "for making me rich," her coach, and then her husband, Shan Jiang. She told him he was "even famous in China." "So thanks for him give up everything just traveling with me to be my hitting partner, fix the drinks, fix the racket. So thanks a lot, you are a nice guy," she said, to the delight of the crowd. "Also you are so lucky, find me." [sic]

With two titles already to her name, Na Li is undefeated so far this season. She is leading the race to Singapore.

Shaking off some early nerves, Na Li eventually proved too strong for Cibulkova, winning the match 7-6,6-0 to wrap up a magnificent fortnight Down Under.

The win against Cibulkova brought Li her second Grand Slam title and her first in Melbourne, following heart-breaking runner-up showing in 2011 and 2013.

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Halep Starting to Enjoy the Good Life

Following her spectacular second half of 2013, it was just a matter of time before the million dollar Romanian would break into the top 10. She did it in extraordinary fashion by reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, her best result in a Grand Slam.

There have been a few question marks as to whether she would be able to back-up her breakthrough season. Those got even more intense after her early exit in Sydney, where she lost in straight sets to young American Madison Keys in the opening round. Fortunately, the loss proved just a fluke and Simona was back to her winning ways just in time for Melbourne.

She was quick to adjust to the extreme Australian heat, crushing Polish qualifier Katarzyna Piter 6-0,6-1 in the first round. She then overcame American Varvara Lepchenko and Kazakh Zarina Diyas. The stiffest test came in the fourth round where she met former world No.1, Jelena Jankovic. Simona had defeated the Serb a couple of times in the past, but this time around she really had to dig deep for the victory. The first game of the decider was key, the Romanian won it and run away with the match 6-4,2-6,6-0. 

The mental effort took its toll and Simona was drained when she took the court for her quarterfinal clash with Dominika Cibulkova. The Slovak was playing the tennis of her life, putting forth a lethal combination of aggression and precision that left Halep with no answers. 

Although she lost a disappointing final battle, the Romanian has plenty to cheer for. The result was enough to guarantee she'll break into the top 10 for the first time on Monday. She becomes just the third Romanian to achieve the feat. The season has just started, so I am sure there are many great things ahead for Simona in 2014. Well done, girl!

Although she was crushed 6-3,6-0 by Slovak Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals, Simona achieved her best showing at a Grand Slam. The result is enough to see her break into the top 10.

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Aga Shines Bright

Agnieszka Radwanska wrote one of the stand-out stories of 2012. She won 3 Premier titles, reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon and was one match away from topping the ranking, while peaking at number 2. However, she eventually fell behind her biggest rivals, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, finishing the year at number 4.

Hoping to confirm again this season and to maybe grab that elusive Grand Slam, the older Radwanska started her preparation for the Australian Open early, entering the small tournament in Auckland. The move proved extremely inspired, as she run away with the title. The Pole cruised through the draw in emphatic way, never dropping a set against Greta Arn, Simona Halep, Elena Vesnina, Jamie Hampton, respectively Yanina Wickmayer in the final.

Last year, Sydney catapulted Azarenka into the spotlight, and she followed up her triumph there by winning her first Slam in Melbourne and becoming the world number 1. And while the Belorussian opted not to defend her crown, the Pole was eager to get as many matches under her belt as possible, so she made the trip Down Under where she was the number 1 seed. While Aga's great form showed during her quarterfinal clash with crafty Italian Roberta Vinci, who stunned her at the US Open last year, she was top notch in the semis against Chinese Na Li. Revenging some recent losses to both these players, Radwanska cruised to two easy victories, booking her place in the big finale.

The championship match with red-hot Dominika Cibulkova was expected to pose a tough challenge for the Pole. The Slovak has had a terrific route to the final, taking out former Wimbledon queen, Petra Kvitova, last year's Roland Garros runner-up, Sara Errani, as well as powerful German, second seeded Angelique Kerber. The encounter was nothing close to a battle though, Aga completely out-playing Cibulkova from the get-go. Relying on her percentage game, she raced to a 6-0,1-0 lead. At this stage, the Slovak was already crushed to pieces, as tears of despair and anger kept rolling down her face. Radwanska took full advantage of the situation, closing out the match 6-0,6-0. This was the first final since Quebec in 2006 that ended with a double bagel. Talking about her performance, she said: "Well, this is tennis and this is sport, and sometimes things like this happen. But of course I feel bad. It was a final and it's always supposed to be a tight, long match - but instead it was 60 60. She didn't deserve that score, definitely not."

On the other side, a miserable Cibulkova declared: "I would like to say there was an injury, but there wasn't - I was feeling fine. It was the first time something like that has happened to me. Actually I felt I could win every game I lost until 60 10. But when I lost that 1-0 game again in the second set, I just completely broke down and stopped thinking about what I had to do out there. I was just thinking, 'Oh my God, what is happening?'

With a 9-0 match record in 2013, Agnieszka established herself as a top contestant for the Australian Open crown.

Although she had a tremendous week in Sydney, taking out three top 10 players, i.e. Kvitova, Errani and Kerber, Dominika Cibulkova was reduced to tears by tenacious Radwanska who completely crushed her, winning the final 6-0,6-0, the first double-bagel in a WTA final since Quebec in 2006.

Following a flawless display, the inspired Pole collected the twelfth career title in Sydney.

Radwanska started 2013 strongly winning the title in Auckland without dropping a set. With a 9-0 match record under her belt, the Pole was not set her sights on the Australian Open title.

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