Li Na Reaches Cincinnati Finals

A sore back didn't stop Venus Williams from putting up a fight but it was Li Na who claimed a spot in tomorrow's Cincinnati finals where she will play Kerber.

By Erik Gudris

(August 18th, 2012) -- While the first semifinal between No. 9 seed Li Na and a resurgent Venus Williams had blockbuster written all of it, the match itself turned into a bit of bust even before it started. During the warmup, Williams massaged her lower back as if to indicate she was injured and got off to a slow start with the former No. 1 merely spinning her usually potent serve in to start the first set.

When Williams double faulted to give Li a 3-2 lead, it looked like it might be a quick win for the former French Open champion.

But Li played tentative, error filled return games and couldn't take advantage of Williams's soft serving. Li herself was broken serving for the set at 5-4, but managed to break right back and eventually claimed the set 7-5.

The first set stats were not great for both women as Li Na hit 13 winners, 18 unforced errors while Williams wasn't much better -14 winners and 23 unforced errors.

After going down 0-2 in the second set, Williams called a medical time out and had a trainer attend to her back. This seemed to revive Williams while at the same time completely throwing off Li's momentum as Li allowed herself to be broken. Williams picked up her intensity and reeled off six straight games to close out the set 6-3.

The final set saw both women continue hitting errors on both sides of the court but it was Li who finally began controlling her returns, especially when Williams would throw in 70 MPH second serves. Li broke serve twice to go up 5-1 and though Li struggled in the final game, it was Williams who sent a shot well wide to give Li a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 win to reach her second straight final in a row having reached the finals of Montreal last week.

Kerber Seeks Third Title of Year in Cincinnati Finals

Waiting for Li Na in tomorrow's final will Germany's Angelique Kerber who survived a three-set battle against a fellow lefty in Petra Kvitova. Despite Kvitova having plenty of chances to break in the first set, Kvitova could make the most of her opportunities and lost the first set 6-1. Kvitova fought back to dominate the second set, but it was Kerber who gained the upper hand in the third to win a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.

Li leads the overall head to head 4-1 though Kerber won their last meeting in Madrid this year.

(Photo Credit: Western and Southern Open FB)