MELBOURNE, Australia — No. 4 Li Na will seek her second major title on Saturday, facing first-time Grand Slam finalist No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova in the Australia Open women’s final.

Na Li $1.36 vs Dominika Cibulkova $3.16 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match

Na Li $1.41 vs Dominika Cibulkova $2.90 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Na Li vs Dominika Cibulkova Odds Comparison

Na Li	1.36	1.35	1.41	1.35	1.36	1.35
Dominika Cibulkova	3.16	3.25	2.90	3.25	3.16	3.18

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.

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The path looks paved for Li, 31, to finally win the title in Melbourne, after falling short twice (in 2011 and ’13). She nearly lost in the third round against No. 26 Lucie Safarova on a searing hot day, when Safarova sent a match point ‘five centimeters’ long. But a slew of upsets made her draw much easier; not only did No. 1 Serena Williams lose, who Li was projected to face in the semifinals, but other potentially tricky opponents went down as well, including No. 6 Petra Kvitova, No. 9 Angelique Kerber, No. 15 Sabine Lisicki and No. 16 Ana Ivanovic.

Cibulkova will be the first player that Li has faced ranked inside the top 25 this tournament, due to the luck of the draw. That’s a far cry from having to play Kim Clijsters in the 2011 final or having to beat Maria Sharapova and then face Victoria Azarenka in last year’s final. And yet, even in both those matches she came within a set from winning. The last time Li lost in a final to a player ranked lower than she was in 2009.

The string of good luck is not lost upon her. “I really feeling after the match [against Safarova] I was getting second life in this tournament. In China, we say if you have a tough time, you pass that, it means you be so lucky. Or maybe they give me back [the luck] from last year, I don’t know,” she said, laughing.

Li Na beats teenage sensation Eugenie Bouchard to reach third Australian Open final

So is the third time the charm for Li? “In China numbers six and eight are lucky… If I lose, I just continue until six or eight,” she said laughing. That sound you hear is the huge sigh of relief within the tennis community given the recent revelation that Li considered retiring last year before Wimbledon.

Under coach Carlos Rodriguez, Li continues to improve her game and make surprisingly significant changes. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Li has changed the grip on her serve and backhand to get more margin when she’s under pressure;  she is also coming to the net with far more frequency, and even serving and volleying. For a 31-year old to make such a change at this stage of her career signals just how ambitious Li has become. She could have had a perfectly comfortable life as a top 10 player — Forbes listed her as the third-highest paid female athlete in the world last year — but she backed her ability and potential to be more.

“You on the tour so many years, everybody know what exactly [how] you play on the court,” she said during her pre-final press conference. “Of course, if I didn’t change I can keep in the top 10, top 20, but I cannot be the best in the world. So I really want to push myself to change a little bit, to see. It’s very tough to [think about it at] first because if you change maybe you lose [the] old thing. I still trust myself, trust Carlos. I believe after [the] change is help for me.”

Across the net, Cibulkova will try and do what her best friend Marion Bartoli did last summer at Wimbledon, and become the most surprising Grand Slam champion since Francesca Schiavone lifted the trophy at the 2010 French Open.

Dominika Cibulkova crushes a tired Agnieszka Radwanska in Australian Open semifinals

“Straight after my semifinal she came into the gym to me,” Cibulkova said. Bartoli is in Melbourne promoting her new fashion line. “She hugged me. We were both crying. She was so happy for me.”

Though she’s ranked outside the top 20 (she could rise to No. 11 if she wins) Cibulkova’s run to the final has been one marked by giant-slaying and dominance, and she can’t be overlooked. In the 13 sets she has played she has lost only one, to No. 3 Maria Sharapova, and has won over half those sets by losing one or fewer games. She came back to defeat Sharapova 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the fourth round, then breezed past No. 11 Simona Halep and No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska, dropping just six games. She is on a roll of confidence, which is a good thing considering she’s a confidence player.

Standing at a generously listed 5-foot-3, Cibulkova may be, pound for pound, the biggest hitter in the women’s game. She launches her diminutive but powerful frame into every shot, flying into the air to combat the heavy topspin and power of her opponents. Her game has little margin, and that is what has held her back as the women of her generation — Azarenka, Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki — have passed her by to be top 10 staples.

“So many years that everybody kept telling me, You should be top 10; why you not top 10,” Cibulkova said. “I’m just not.”

The reality is that on an off day she can pound the ball everywhere but in. A little over a year ago she suffered a 6-0, 6-0 loss in the final of the Sydney International to Radwanska, a loss that left her crushed and in tears. A year on she lost just three gams to the Pole in the semifinals here. That’s the range of what she can do on a tennis court.

“I’m playing great,” Cibulkova said after the win. “I’m playing really, really well, giving 100 percent of what I’m capable to do on the court in the match. That’s the most important thing.”

The biggest question is how both women will deal with the nerves. This is Li’s third Australian Open final in the last four years and she knows better than most what to expect on Saturday. But this will be the first time she’s the heavy favorite Nerves can be debilitating for the Slovakian but apart from nearly letting a 5-0 second set lead slip away against Sharapova, she’s handled herself with poise.

“She’s been in the finals of Grand Slam many times. She already won a Grand Slam, so she know how it is. I’m playing finals, so that’s something beautiful. It’s like a dream. So I will go just out there and play my best, try to do my best.”

Source: www.tennis.si.com