Li Na blazes past Maria Sharapova to make final

Li Na crushed Maria Sharapova with a magnificent display to power into her second Australian Open final.

Sharapova had broken a tournament record in conceding just nine games in reaching the last four but she was overwhelmed by the Chinese whose heavy-hitting, high-risk game reaped maximum reward.

In the face of blazing winners from all angles, second seed Sharapova had no answer as Li romped to a 6-2 6-2 win.

“I always play well here,” Li said after a 93-minute masterclass.

Li, who reached the final here in 2011 and a few months later become the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros, set the tone early on, two breaks of serve handing her a 4-1 lead her dominance merited.

Sharapova got one back but the world number six swiftly reasserted her authority by breaking again before wrapping up the first set.

A shell-shocked Sharapova battled to find a route back into the contest in the second but could not find any fluency as her opponent’s greater power and clever angles consistently put her on the back foot.

The Russian saw a break point swatted aside with another forehand winner from Li and she could not get any closer due to an uncharacteristically high 32 unforced errors.

Li broke for 3-2 and then again for 5-2 thanks to a backhand winner.

Not for the first time, Li got the jitters in attempting to close out the match but another sloppy groundstroke from Sharapova did the job.