Saturday, August 16, 2008
Safina braved a partisan crowd to oust Li 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 and set up an all-Russian final with 2000 silver-medallist Elena Dementieva who beat compatriot Vera Zvonareva, a late call-up for the injured Maria Sharapova, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
The 43rd-ranked Li rode a wave of home support to reach the last four, and thousands of fans packed Centre Court on Saturday.
With occasional shouts of "Russia!" drowned out by ear-splitting boos, French Open runner-up Safina got the early break but short-circuited with three double faults to level the first set at 3-3.
They exchanged breaks twice more before the sixth seed took control of the tie-break, racing to a 5-1 lead and snatching the first set point with a monster second serve.
More Safina double-faults handed Li the advantage in the second set, but the Russian kept up the pressure and finally broke back at 4-5 despite being rapped with a coaching warning.
Serving to stay in it, Li crumbled, netting to set up three match points and handing over a place in the final after a long rally.
Li had already made history as the first Chinese player to reach the last eight of an Olympic singles event.
She stunned Russian third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in round one and beat Ayumi Morita and Kaia Kanepi before pulling off an even greater upset, against Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, in the quarters.
Li had dropped just six games in her two previous matches with Safina, but the Russian came into the semi-final on a 14-match streak after winning her last two tournaments.
