Wozniacki, Li make semifinals in Australia

MELBOURNE, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and No. 9 Li Na earned semifinals berths Tuesday at the Australian Open.

Wozniacki defeated Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in advancing to her third Grand Slam semifinal while Li, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over 30th-seeded Andrea Petkovic, will be in her second. She was also a semifinalist at the 2010 Australian Open.

Schiavone was coming off a record fourth-round match in which she and Svetlana Kuznetsova played 30 games in the third set before the issue was decided. Schiavone was able to build a 6-3, 3-1 lead against Wozniacki but fatigue seemed to set in and Wozniacki won 10 of the next 12 games.

Wozniacki needed 52 minutes to finish off the third set but had just three unforced errors in the set and a total of 15 in the match.

Li has had one of the better showings in Melbourne. She's coming off a season-opening win at the tournament in Sydney and is 12-0 on the year after winning all 10 of her sets so far at the Australian Open.

Li was able to cash in five of her eight break-point chances and won 54 percent of the points on Petkovic's serve.

The semifinals will mark the fourth career meeting between Li and Wozniacki. Li has beaten Wozniacki twice, including in the third round at last year's Australian Open.

The other women's semifinal will be set Wednesday when second-seeded Vera Zvonareva plays 25th-seeded Petra Kvitova and third-seeded Kim Clijsters faces No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska.

The 2011 Australian Open women's single final is scheduled for Saturday.