Tennis - Australian Open:Serena Williams came back from the brink to beat Victoria Azarenka and reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open. The top seed came from a set and 4-0 down to post a 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 win on the Rod Laver Arena. She will now face China's Li Na, who had earlier ousted her sister Venus.
Renowned for her fighting spirit, Serena had to dig deep once again in Melbourne as Azarenka made a flying start.
Williams had not lost a single service game in the tournament but was broken in four of her opening seven service games as the seventh seed stole away for what looked like a match-winning lead.
Williams' serve slowly improved, however, and she started to match Azarenka's heavy hitting to drag herself back into the contest.
With the finish line in sight in that second set for Azarenka, Williams launched her fightback, winning five straight games.
Azarenka was able to force a tie-break and in it led 3-1.
However, Williams duly found her 'A' game, a brilliant forehand winner and a nerveless smash seeing her turn the breaker around.
She clinched it when her Belarusian opponent netted a backhand and having levelled the match there was only going to be one winner after that.
From 0-1 in the decider, Williams again rattled off five games in a row which all but sealed victory.
Williams, who famously won the title in Melbourne in 2003 having been match point down in the semi-finals, said afterwards she was "surprised" to have survived.
"I didn't expect to win when I was down 0-4," she admitted.
"I was actually thinking 'if I lose today and I lose in doubles I think I can catch a flight on Friday'. That's not what a champion is supposed to think, but that's what I was thinking."
''I'm just happy to still be here.''
Earlier, Li had staged a remarkable comeback to dump Venus out with a 2-6 7-6 (7/4) 7-5 win in their quarter-final.
Williams had at one stage led by a set and 5-3 and looked certain to reach the last four at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2003.
The Chinese 16th seed, however, staged a brave fightback as she claimed the second set in a tie-break before edging a closely-fought third set.
Li's victory means China will have two players in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time after Zheng Jie won through to play Justine Henin in the bottom half of the draw.
"It is good for both players and also good for Chinese tennis," Li said.
"Today I just play my tennis, even after I lost my first set."
Williams raced through the opening set in 30 minutes and had a chance to serve for the match at 5-3 in the second.
Li had hardly troubled the seven-time Grand Slam winner until that point but somehow found a way to grab a break before winning the tie-break.
Williams started to tire in the deciding set as both players struggled to hold serve.
There were seven breaks in the opening nine games before Li missed the chance to serve for the set when she was broken to love.
The Chinese broke again, however, and this time served out the match with a forehand down the line wrapping up the result after two hours and 47 minutes.
Collated Results: Australian Open, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Men's Singles Quarter-Final:(1) Roger Federer (Swi) bt (6) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) 2-6 6-3 6-0 7-5, (10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt (3) Novak Djokovic (Ser) 7-6 (10-8) 6-7 (5-7) 1-6 6-3 6-1
Women's Singles Quarter-Final:(16) Na Li (Chn) bt (6) Venus Williams (USA) 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5, (1) Serena Williams (USA) bt (7) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2
Men's Doubles Quarter-Final:(2) Daniel Nestor (Can) & Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) bt Arnaud Clement (Fra) & Jonathan Erlich (Isr) 6-4 1-6 7-6 (8-6), Ivo Karlovic (Cro) & Dusan Vemic (Ser) bt (3) Lukas Dlouhy (Cze) & Leander Paes (Ind) 6-3 6-4
Women's Doubles Quarter-Final:(15) Maria Kirilenko (Rus) & Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Sally Peers (Aus) & Laura Robson (Gbr) 6-4 6-1, (1) Cara Black (Zim) & Liezel Huber (USA) bt (7) Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) & Francesca Schiavone (Ita) 6-3 6-4
Mixed Doubles Quarter-Final:(1) Cara Black (Zim) & Leander Paes (Ind) bt (8) Elena Vesnina (Rus) & Andy Ram (Isr) 6-4 6-3, Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) & Jaroslav Levinsky (Cze) bt Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) & Dick Norman (Bel) 6-4 7-6 (7-3), Flavia Pennetta (Ita) & Marcelo Melo (Bra) bt Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (Cze) & Oliver Marach (Aut) 6-4 6-4, (7) Lisa Raymond (USA) & Wesley Moodie (Rsa) bt Chia-Jung Chuang (Tpe) & Filip Polasek (Svk) 6-3 3-6 12-10
-PA
