Li Na Downs Williams at Aussie Open

China's Li Na has beaten seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams 2-6, 7-6, 7-5 in a marathon quarterfinal at the Australian Open and booked a second place in the semifinals for China, following in the footsteps of compatriot Zheng Jie. CRI's Australia correspondent Chen Feng has more.

"It's the best day of my whole life."

That's what Li Na says right after the 2-hour-and-47-minute match. Indeed, Li Na played so well that sixth-seeded Venus Williams admits to being caught with many errors.

"Unfortunately, I let my error creep in, and I allowed her to dictate too much, but she played really well. She hits a good ball, she hits a low ball. Sometimes, it's not easy to move her low ball around as much."

There have been many firsts for China in Melbourne Park this summer. It was the first time that any Chinese player marched into the quarterfinals, then semifinals, at the Australia Open; and the first time that two Chinese players advanced to the quarterfinals, then semifinals, of the same Grand Slam tournament.

"This is a very special day indeed when China has two players in the semifinals of a Grand Slam together. I believe it's not only good for us two, but also for the promotion of tennis in China."

Li Na adds that tennis in China is now getting more and more popular, and China has many other good players who need to score more points, get higher in the rankings and then come to bigger tournaments, like the Grand Slams.

And for Li Na herself, by reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal, and surpassing her previous best Grand Sam performance, which was a quarterfinal berth at both the 2009 U.S. Open and Wimbledon in 2006, the Chinese No. 1-seed has now become the first-ever Chinese player to reach the world's top ten.

"So excited, maybe I will take a beer tonight. Because my goal for this year was top ten. But now it's only January, it's coming so quickly. I didn't think about that, but I know now the tournament has not finished, not in the end, so continue hopefully."

Li Na will play world No. 1 Serena Williams on Friday, and Zheng Jie will play former world No.1 Justine Henin on Thursday. Now there are high hopes that the Chinese duo might keep re-writing the history books at the Australian Open.

Chen Feng, CRI news, Melbourne Park.