Clijsters, Li edge towards final rematch

MELBOURNE: World number one Caroline Wozniacki fought off a second set fightback to reach the Australian Open third round on Wednesday as Li Na and Kim Clijsters moved closer to a 2011 final rematch.

Wozniacki was pushed hard in the second set by Georgia's Anna Tatishvili before she sealed it on a tie-break to win 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) and set up a clash against Romanian Monica Niculescu.

Earlier, 2011 finalist Li cantered to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Australian wildcard Olivia Rogowska and defending champion Clijsters demolished France's Stephanie Foretz Gacon 6-0, 6-1 in just 47 minutes.

Their wins left them on course for a highly anticipated fourth round meeting.

The shock of the day came on the Margaret Court Arena, where little-known Italian Romina Oprandi outshone 10th seed and compatriot Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-3.

Wozniacki was in trouble during the second set against Tatishvili, only to dig herself out of a big hole.

The Dane dropped serve in the fourth game and only just managed to hang on two games later to stop Tatishvili opening up a 5-1 lead.

The world number 83 had a chance to serve for the set at 5-3 but a poor service game let Wozniacki back into the match and she won the tie-break to seal victory.

Wozniacki admitted she never had it her own way against Tatishvili, a player she has known since they were both 11 years old, despite the 6-1 scoreline in the first set.

Since the draw was made a possible fourth-round showdown between Clijsters and Li has loomed, although the Belgian 11th seed insisted she had not looked that far ahead.

Clijsters was so dominant against Foretz Gacon that the Frenchwoman only won 24 points in the match, 13 of those coming from her opponent's unforced errors.

Clijsters next plays Daniela Hantuchova, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner over Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko.

Fifth seed Li was broken in the first set but she proved too strong for Rogowska in front of cheering Chinese fans on Rod Laver Arena.
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Li, who made the semi-finals in 2010 as well as last year's final, said she enjoyed coming back to the Australian Open's centre court.

She now takes on Anabel Medina Garrigues in the third round after the Spanish 26th seed thumped Belarusian Olga Govortsova 6-1, 6-0.

Elsewhere Czech player Iveta Benesova upset China's 16th seed Peng Shuai 6-2, 6-4 and Serbia's Jelena Jankovic, the 13th seed, saw off Taiwanese wildcard Chang Kai-chen 6-4, 6-2.

Germany's 22nd seed Julia Goerges moved into the third round when Eleni Daniilidou of Greece retired with the German ahead 6-2, 2-0. (AFP)