Li thrashes Pennetta in Melbourne

Li Na continued her love affair with Rod Laver Arena and the Australian Open, thrashing Flavia Pennetta in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Fourth seed Li moved into her fourth semi-final at Melbourne Park in five years with a comprehensive 6-2 6-2 victory in one hour and seven minutes over the Italian 28th seed.

Li, 31, showed plenty of maturity to reach the last four once more, and given her efficiency thus far, she looks set to match or better her runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2013.

Previously quoted as saying she struggles to handle the pressure of expectation from her homeland, Li has had just the one hiccup - having to save second-set match points against Lucie Safarova in their third-round clash - on her way to the semi-finals and was nerveless as she dispatched of Pennetta.

Pennetta saved two set points and broke Li's serve to avoid a first-set bagel, in the first sign of fight from the Italian who was bidding to make it back-to-back major semi-final appearances after her run to the final four at the US Open last year.

An indicator of how much the match was on Li's racquet in the first set, Pennetta could only force Li into one error - with Li clocking 11 winners to Pennetta's nine, and committing three fewer unforced errors.

Pennetta then conceded a break in the opening game of the set, and delivered her best shot of the match - however, it was via her foot connecting to the ball, as she belted it away in frustration.

Li rocketed out to a 4-0 lead for the third straight set this tournament, and while Pennetta got on the scoreboard, it would be in vain as the Chinese veteran progressed.

Her improvement throughout the tournament can be mapped by her unforced error count - Li hit 81 across five sets in her second- and third-round encounters, before committing a measly 31 across her next four sets to enter the semis on a high.

Awaiting Li next is the winner of the clash between Ana Ivanovic and Eugenie Bouchard.

Li said coach Carlos Rodriguez helped with her motivation after she scraped past Safarova.

"He didn't tell me what I should do. He just asked me like, 'What do you want? Why you do this?'" she said.

"Like after three questions, I was feeling he was already punching me down already. I was like, 'OK I should do something, otherwise I think he was so pissed.

"That's why I started next day preparing. Start next day I try to do what I'm say, because before I always promising, I will try to do, I will try to do, but I never do. I think this is why match was turned around."