Li Na has won the Women’s title at the Australian Open with a 7-6, 6-0 win over Dominika Cibulkova in Melbourne. The win is Na’s first at the event and makes it third time lucky as she had previously lost twice at this stage of the event. It is her second grand slam win, adding to her 2011 French Open crown.

Li enjoyed popular support at the Rod Laver Arena, while also drawing a television audience of 70 million, largely thanks to her massive popularity in her native China. Despite the vocal support, and a 4-0 record against her Slovakian opponent, the straight sets win was not all straightforward for Li with the first set going to a tie-break.

Cibulkova had never previously made it to a grand slam final and began the match with two double faults in the opening game, losing her serve game to give Li an even greater psychological advantage. Cibulkova battled back to tie the set at 3-3,

Li broke serve again to make it 6-5 but failed to wrap up the first set as Cibulkova once more battled back to tie the set and force a tie-breaker.

Whatever encouragement the Slovakian may have garnered from her spirited performance in the first set was soon diminished, if not totally eradicated, as Li went into a 3-0 lead in the second set. Li’s game improved measurably in the second set and the errors of the first were non-existent as she wrapped up the win, and the title, with a 6-0 final set.