李娜夺得澳网公开赛女单桂冠

China's Li Na stormed to her second major singles title on Saturday night, battling past Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 to become the oldest woman player ever to win the Australian Open.

From Melbourne, our correspondent Wang Xiao reports.

Reporter: Two-time runner-up Li Na of China finally won her first Australian Open women's singles title here on Saturday after beating Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 7-6, 6-0 in the final.

The fourth seed, broke Cibulkova's serve in the opening game, but had to fight 70 minutes to win the first set through a tiebreak. Cibulkova, 24, and the first Slovak woman to reach a Grand Slam final, lost her pace in the second set as she failed to keep even just one serve game.

After rolling through the second set in 27 minutes, Li held up both thumbs to the crowd, and held back tears. She went immediately to the side of the court to shake hands with her coach Carlos Rodriguez in the stands.

The 31-year-old fourth seed was crowned the Melbourne Park champion on her third attempt after losing in the 2011 and 2013 finals, adding to the French Open title she won three years ago.

Li Na is popular at Melbourne Park, with her funny post-match interviews and remarks. She had the crowd laughing hysterically again in her victory speech.

"Thank you Max, my agent….."

Li's supporters were everywhere at Rod Laver Arena, some with Chinese flags painted on their faces, others holding Chinese flags or giant signs painted with Chinese characters.

Even after the match, they were still so excited and reluctant to leave`.

"I am so happy and excited, and no words can express my minds. Li Na finally gets the Australian Open title. Go, Li Na."

"I'm so excited. I really want to stand in the very front to see Li Na holding the trophy. It's the first time a player from Asian country wins the final."

At the press conference, Li Na introduced how she struggled to survive in the first set.

Although turning 32 years old next month, Li said age is never a problem for her.

When asked about her next target, she said she wanted to win another one or two grand Slams.

"Last year when I said I want to be top 3, nobody believed me but I did it. At Shenzhen this year, I said I want to win another grand slam, nobody believed me either, but I made it today. So I think I need to keep making targets for myself. I will try to improve my ranking, and I also want to win one or two grand slams."

Just as the Chinese characters printed on her T-shirt which meant "A heart without limits", Li Na will go to achieve her next goal bravely.

For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao from Melbourne.