For the first time in history there will be two Chinese players in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam singles tournament after 16th seed Li Na pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Australian Open history after ousting seven-time major winner Venus Williams on Wednesday.
A day after her countywoman Zheng Jie advanced to the last four after beating Russia's Maria Kirilenko and Li pulled off an extraordinary victory against five-time Wimbledon champion Williams, who had appeared to be cruising to victory when she took the first set and served for the match in the 10th game of the second set.
But in an extraordinary match, in which there were more breaks of serve than holds, Li somehow fought back to win 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 in a match which went nearly two and three-quarter hours.
And her reward could well be a showdown with Venus Williams' younger sister and world No.1 Serena Williams in the semi-finals with Serena a heavy favourite to beat No.7 seed Victoria Azarenka in the other women's quarter-final scheduled for Wednesday.
Li's shock win also sets up the fascinating possibility of an all-Chinese final in this the Grand Slam of the Asia/Pacific region with Zheng to face former world No.1 Justine Henin in the other semi-final.
While Zheng had already previously reached a Grand Slam singles semi-final at Wimbledon in 2008, before matching that achievement at this year's Australian Open, a spot in the last four of a major is new territory for Li.
Her previous best performances were quarter-final appearances at last year's French Open and at Wimbledon in 2006.
And her stunning run to the last four at the Australian Open comes despite poor lead-up form when she fell in the first round in Auckland and in the second round in Sydney in key lead-up events.
But just like her countrywoman Zheng, Li simply does not know when to quit as she eventually wore down Williams in a battle of attrition in which players simply could not hold serve with a total of 17 breaks in 33 games for the match.
In the final set alone there were nine breaks of serve in just 12 games as Williams' cursed run at the Australian Open continues.
While she may have won five Wimbledon titles and two US Opens, 29-year-old Williams appears destined never to win the Australian Open - unlike her sister Serena who has won four Australian Opens in having claimed all four major titles.
After cruising through the first set in just 30 minutes, Williams appeared on course for a routine win when she led 5-4 and served for the match in the 10th game.
But after slumping to 0-30, Li had a huge slice of luck when a desperate lob - played almost off-balance - somehow went over Williams and landed right on the baseline to set up the crucial break back opportunity.
Li converted on her second break point opportunity as the second set went to a tiebreaker.
But again with Williams leading 5-4 and with two serves to come, she somehow lost both points on her usual booming first serve as Li claimed the breaker 7-4 to send the match to a deciding set.
And after Williams held serve in the opening game of the third set, the decider began to border on farce as there were an extraordinary six games in a