MELBOURNE, Australia — Venus Williams advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals for the seventh time to set up a meeting with Li Na.
The sixth-seeded Williams beat Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 today, recovering after dropping a set to the Italian for the first time since 2003.
Li upset No. 4 seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-2 in a 98-minute match featuring 12 service breaks. Li held when it counted, saving three break-point chances against the U.S. Open finalist in an 11-minute opening game.
Li’s progress means there are two Chinese players in the quarterfinals of the same major for the first time. Zheng Jie, the 2008 Wimbledon semifinalist, is into the quarters on the other half of the draw.
“Nothing better,” Li said, smiling, “Good for us.”
In a men’s fourth-round match, 2008 champion Novak Djokovic beat Poland’s Lukasz Kubot 6-1, 6-2, 7-5.
Li already has reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and went out at that stage in the last U.S. Open. She beat Williams in the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics in their only previous meeting, but she wasn’t drawing too much from that result here.
“It was good experience for me, for my tennis, also,” Li said. “But I just want to forget, because I will play her again. So I didn’t want to always think about the last match. I want to look forward.”
Williams has won seven singles majors and reached the final of the Australian Open in 2003, losing to her younger sister Serena, in her best run at Melbourne Park.
The Williamses are on track to meet in the semifinals, with defending champion and No. 1-ranked Serena playing in a fourth-round match against Australia’s Sam Stosur.
On Sunday night, Andy Roddick got a crucial call in his favor in a 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Fernando Gonzalez, a 2007 Australian Open finalist, to reach the quarters.
