Li dominated against teenager Eugenie Bouchard, racing¹ into a 5-0 lead in 14 minutes before winning 6-2 6-4 to progress to her third Melbourne final. 

 

Cibulkova produced a stirring display to shock fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska and reach her first Grand Slam final. 

 

The Slovakian broke in the opening game and was in complete control throughout. 

 

 

Fourth seed Li remains² on course for a second Grand Slam title and a first Australian Open victory as her experience told against Canadian Bouchard, who had never previously³ been beyond the third round of a major. 

 

China's Li, who reached the final in Melbourne in 2011 and 2013, came back from match point down in her third-round tie against Lucie Safarova and has not looked back since.

 

She began superbly on this occasion and threatened to blow her opponent away, but Bouchard stopped the first-set rot when she broke at 5-0 down, recovering to trail 5-2 before Li held serve to take the advantage. 

 

Bouchard, 19, used that late improvement to gain momentum⁴ in set two and, when she broke to lead 2-0, had won four out of five games and the contest seemed to be alive once more. 

 

But Li broke Bouchard in each of her next three service games to snuff out any prospect⁵ of a comeback. 

 

Referring to her previous inability to turn final appearances into wins at the Australian Open, Li said: "Last time was a little bit tough so I will try this time to make one more step. 

 

"I think after working with the coach, it's not only about my technique. I'm playing much stronger on court and more stable from the first point." 

 

Bouchard said: "I'm proud of how I've improved as a player throughout the tournament, but I'm never satisfied with losing. 

 

"I'm always disappointed. I always want to go further and do better."

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