Wozniacki remains on final route as Clijsters denies Li

Clijsters had to save four match points and defy an ankle injury to again get the better of Li Na in a repeat of last year’s final.

Wozniacki had a much easier time of it, beating Jelena Jankovic 6-0 7-5 in a match which belatedly sparked into life.

And while the Dane was largely impressive, the performance of the day came from Clijsters, who won 4-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 in over two hours of absorbing tennis.

That the match went that far was testament to Clijsters’s spirit as a nasty ankle sprain in the seventh game looked as though it could result in a retirement.

The 11th seed, in her final year on tour, carried on but her efforts looked to have been in vain when Li moved 6-2 up in the second set tie-break only to choke horribly when on the cusp of a last-eight slot.

Clijsters took full advantage of her opponent’s meltdown to edge the third set, despite some anxious moments, and reach the quarter-finals in Melbourne for a seventh time.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match both physically and mentally but I didn’t expect this,” she said.

“It is amazing to get through and to fight despite not having my best tennis. You just try to win each point and don’t give up.”

Asked whether she considered quitting due to the ankle, she said: “Yeah, a couple of times it went through my mind but then I didn’t want to quit at my last time at the Australian Open.

“I just kept on fighting and you never know what is going on on the other side of the net.”

Earlier, Victoria Azarenka became the first woman to reach the quarter-finals courtesy of a straight-sets win over Iveta Benesova.

The Belarusian has yet to drop a set in Melbourne and was again impressive in beating Benesova 6-2 6-2 in 77 minutes.

Azarenka came out firing and a break in the opening game set the tone, the third seed’s greater power from the baseline proving too much for her Czech opponent.

Another break handed her a 4-1 lead and she duly served out the set.

Benesova required a strong start to the second set to have any chance of hitting back, but instead Azarenka broke once more.

She then established a 3-0 lead when dispirited Benesova double-faulted.

From there on in it was a stroll in the Melbourne sunshine for Azarenka as she eased to a last-eight meeting with Agnieszka Radwanska, who prevailed in a one-sided contest against Julia Goerges, winning 6-1 6-1 in just 54 minutes.