WOMEN'S SINGLES:THE DEFENDING champion, Serena Williams, survived a major scare against Victoria Azarenka in Melbourne yesterday to keep her bid for a fifth Australian Open title alive. The world number one recovered from being a set and a double break behind to overpower her 20-year-old rival 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 and book her place in the semi-finals.

Hopes of an all-Williams match-up in the last-four were dashed, however, after Venus Williams was on the opposite end of an equally impressive comeback from China’s Li Na.

Venus passed up a chance to serve for the match in the second set and was made to pay as she lost a marathon match with the 16th seed 2-6 7-6 (7/4) 7-5 in two hours and 47 minutes.

Serena had followed her sister on to Rod Laver Arena in the second match of the day, and admitted she thought she may also be heading out of the tournament after some aggressive hitting from Azarenka had the seventh seed from Belarus on the brink of an upset.

Azarenka was 4-0 ahead in the second set and Williams revealed her thoughts had started to wander. “I wasn’t feeling great at that stage,” the four-time winner said.

“I was actually thinking ‘If I lose today and I lose in doubles I think I can catch a flight on Friday’. That’s not what a champion is supposed to think, but that’s what I was thinking. I’m just happy to still be here.”

Williams began her remarkable turnaround by reeling off the next five games, and after taking the tie-break the 28-year-old ran away with the match.

Venus had been just two points away from the match in the second set and lamented her inability to finish the job. “In tennis you have to close it out,” she said. “It’s not like there’s a clock ticking and then suddenly it’s over. You just have to close it out. I didn’t do that today.”

Li’s victory means China will have two players in the semi-finals of a major for the first time after Zheng Jie won through to play Justine Henin in the bottom half of the draw.

Their run has caught the media’s attention in China, where tennis is not the number one sport, and Li hoped it would help the sport grow in the world’s most populated country.

“Right now you can see many media from China right here,” she said. “Also, they show the match and live. So after the match I get 20 text messages from friends because they saw the match.

“I don’t know how it is in China right now. I was feeling maybe tennis in China right now (is getting) bigger and bigger.”