Chinese Li Na staged a comeback fight, after being 5-1 down in the first set to defeat Russian 15th seed Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 7-5 and move on to the Pacific Life Open semifinals yesterday.

Under the heat of Indian Wells, California, Li progressed to the semifinals for the first time in her career ready to face the winner of the clash between Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Shahar Peer of Israel.

Li was too powerful for Zvonareva, breaking her serve five times during the match and slamming 24 winners past the Russian in a match lasting 1 hour, 27 minutes.

Last year saw Li lead a glut of Chinese female stars to success with Li becoming the first Chinese athlete to reach a Grand Slam singles quarter-final at Wimbledon.

This is Li's second semifinal in 2007 after falling to Kim Clijsters at the WTA Sydney event.

Zvonareva's exit from Indian Wells was a shock, coming a day after she defeated defending champion Maria Sharapova of Russia 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Li, the first Chinese to be ranked in the top 20 players in the world, went on a six-game winning streak to take the match, fighting off two set points in the tenth game to level the set at 5-5.

(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2007)