Never-say-die Li Na saved a match point before battling back and overcoming Czech Lucie Safarova in three gruelling sets as she scrapped her way into the Australian Open fourth round Friday.
The Chinese fourth seed, a finalist last year, rallied from a set down and through a tiebreak to win 1-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 in a two-and-a-half hour marathon on another hot Melbourne day.
In doing so she avoided matching her earliest exit at the tournament since 2008, and set up a clash with Russian 22nd seed Ekaterina Makarova for a place in the quarter-finals.
But it was a narrow escape for Li who self-destructed in the first set and had to draw on all her experience to find a way past the 26th-seeded Czech, who was playing with her right thigh heavily strapped and her left shoulder taped.
"In the beginning she played very nice, very good and it was tough to find any rhythm," said the popular Li, who has more than 10 million fans on Chinese social media.
"I'm happy I was able to fight and win the match. I just tried to play at the baseline and move the ball around the court."
Playing in 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) heat, the Monte Carlo-based Safarova made the most of some early Li double faults to get a break in the first game then held for a 2-0 lead.
Li, using ice to cool down barely 10 minutes into the match, held her next serve to stay in touch but Safarova was unrelenting, pushing Li around and gaining another break when the Chinese star netted a forehand.
