Sydney Shocker: Na Li Whips Kim Clijsters for Title

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Tabbed to play the role of sacrificial lamb in Kim Clijsters' continued run of dominance, China's Na Li instead played the upset card Friday.

Li edged Clijsters in a first-set tiebreaker that turned into a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory for the championship at the Medibank International. With Clijsters serving an uncharacteristic seven double faults and converting just eight of 23 second-serve points, Li, who will turn 29 next month and is ranked 11th in the world, won her fourth career title.

The result broke Clijsters' 16-match win streak and at least temporarily keeps her at No. 3 in the world as she attempts to climb past No. 2, Vera Zvonareva, to set her sights on top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki.

With Clijsters' erratic service, Li was able to break her opponent four times. Five of Clijsters' double faults came in the first set, but she was still able to force the tiebreaker before falling short. The match took just over 90 minutes to complete.

It was just the second win in six tries for Li against Clijsters and broke a three-match losing streak dating back to Miami in 2007. Earlier that year, Clijsters defeated Li in three sets in the Sydney semifinals.

Hobart

Meanwhile, in Hobart, American Bethanie Mattek-Sands rallied past China's Shuai Peng to reach the final, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. Mattek-Sands began the tournament by advancing when No. 2 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova retired while trailing Sands 2-6 in their opening-round match, and the American hasn't looked back since.

On Friday, she broke Peng seven times and was deadly with her own serve, scoring 27 points on 39 first-serve opportunities. Sands will take on Jamilia Groth in the final. Groth defeated Klara Zakopalova, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday.

Sydney Men

Gilles Simon will take on Viktor Troicki for the men's title at Sydney. Third-seeded Simon manhandled top seed Ernests Gulbis, 7-6(1), 6-0, in the semifinal, while fourth-seeded Troicki did likewise to qualifier Florian Mayer, 6-4, 7-6(4). In the doubles final, the top-seeded Bryan brothers will take on Lukas Dlouhy and Paul Hanley.

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