Li Back to Winning Ways

Although she achieved a huge milestone for her country by becoming the first Asian to win a Grand Slam, Na Li suffered a severe meltdown in the months following her triumph at the 2011 French Open, very similar to what Ana Ivanovic experienced after winning the same title in 2009. Consequently, her poor performances saw her drop out of the top 10 earlier this season as the Chinese was struggling to get her career back on track.

The last part of 2011 was miserable and although she showed a few glimpses of her vintage form in 2012, she was still unable to win another WTA tour. She played three Premier finals though, in Sydney, where she was defeated by Azarenka, in Rome, where she lost a nail-biter to Sharapova, and last week in Montreal, where she succumbed to an inspired Petra Kvitova. However, fresh of her good run in Canada, Li entered Cincinnati bursting with confidence. After a battling 6-3,4-6,6-3 victory over Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the second round, the Chinese caught fire. She easily dismissed Swede Johanna Larsson before crushing Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1,6-1, to end the Pole's quest for the world number 1 ranking. What followed was another marathon match against a rejuvenated Venus Williams, but Li overcame a mid-match breakdown and regrouped in time to seal a 7-5,3-6,6-1 win.

Disputing her second final in as many weeks, Li was determined not to let this chance slip away too. She started shaky though against powerful Angelique Kerber, the German quickly building a 6-1,3-1 lead.  At this stage, Kerber, who scored some great wins this week over extraterrestrial Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova, looked like the comfortable winner. The Chinese player had other plans however and, displaying some sensational shots, she quickly turned the encounter around. With everything going her opponent's way, Kerber found no way to fight back, as Li won her first title since the 2011 Roland Garros.

Her tremendous run of form on the American hardcourts can also be justified by her recent collaboration with Carlos Rodriguez, none other than the former coach of Justine Henin. Riding on such a great run of form, Li will definitely be amongst the outsiders for the US Open starting in a week.

When trailing 1-6,1-3, Na Li looked finished, but the feisty Chinese fought back losing only one more game to deny Germany's Angelique Kerber the biggest trophy of her career.

photos: GETTY IMAGES