Li into Montreal Semis

By Chris Oddo

(August 11, 2012) -- Former French Open champion Li Na notched two impressive wins to reach the Rogers Cup semifinals in Montreal today.

After winning her fifth consecutive match against eighth-seeded Sara Errani early in the day, the 30-year-old returned to make short work of Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals.

Radwanska was in position to reach the No. 1 ranking with a title effort in Montreal, but Li saved all three break points she faced against the second seed, while breaking serve in five of eight games against Radwanska's serve.

Li, a former World No. 4, will return to the top ten next week regardless of her result in the semifinal. She reached her first tour semifinal since reaching the final at Rome this May.

The Chinese No. 1 will play the winner of tonight's quarterfinal between Roberta Vinci and Lucie Safarova. Vinci upset sixth-seeded Angelique Kerber after coming back from 5-3 in the second set and fighting off two set points in the tiebreaker.

Vinci's 6-2, 7-6(7) win was her first top ten win of the season and the fifth of her career.

It has been a rainy week in Montreal but skies have been sunny for homegrown talent Aleksandra Wozniak. The Canadian finished off Christina McHale earlier Saturday to become the first Canadian Woman to reach the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in 20 years.

Patricia Hy-Boulais, a former World No. 28, reached the quarterfinals in Montreal in 1992.

The Quebec native will face Caroline Wozniacki in tonight's quarterfinals. Wozniacki came back from a set down to defeat Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, despite suffering from a right knee issue. The 22-year-old Dane sought treatment early in the second set but didn't appear to be hindered over the course of the final two sets.

In a tight match, Wozniacki broke to take a 5-4 lead in the second set, then held serve to force a decider.

In the final set, Wozniacki fought off the only break point she would face while leading 2-1, and later broke again in the ninth game to lead 5-4. While serving for the match, Lepchenko saved one match point to get to deuce but sailed a backhand long on Wozniacki's second match point.

Lepchenko has lost all nine of her contests against top ten competition.

Due to nagging rains throughout the week, six of eight quarterfinalists have been forced into double duty on Saturday.

Petra Kvitova, who plays Tamira Paszek tonight, and Lucie Safarova, who plays Vinci, are the only two who were spared.

Paszek crushed Carla Suarez Navarro earlier Saturday, 6-3, 6-0. The remaining three quarterfinal matches are all to be played Saturday evening.

(Photo Credit: AFP/Patrick Kovarik)