Australian Open women's singles final

KIM CLIJSTERS (BELGIUM)

Age: 27, World ranking: Three, Seeding: Third

Career titles: 40

Grand slam titles: Three (US Open 2005, 2009, 2010)

Best previous Australian Open: Final (2004, lost to Justine Henin)

Profile: Clijsters has been one of the strongest players on the women's tour since her return from retirement in 2009. Deep, accurate groundstrokes allied to a fierce forehand and a mental fortitude that belies the reputation she had as a choker early in her career make her favourite to win her fourth grand slam crown.

LI NA (CHINA)

Age: 28, World ranking: 11, Seeding: ninth

Career titles: Four

Grand slam titles: None

Best previous Australian Open: Semi-final (2010, lost to Serena Williams)

Profile: Li has always had the game to beat the top players in the world on her best days, but on her worst she is error-prone and given to mental lapses. Fierce flat groundstrokes, particularly on the backhand, mean she unlikely to be outsmuscled but she will have to keep the error count down to become China's first grand slam singles champion.

WHAT THEY SAY

Clijsters - "Who's going to be a little bit more powerful and with the less amount of unforced errors is going to have the best chance to win out there tomorrow."

Li - "She's a nice person, a good player, a tough player also. Of course it's a tough match. It's never easy in tennis (but) I'm in the final already, so I've got nothing to lose."

WHAT THE BOOKMAKERS SAY

Clijsters 1-3

Li 5-2

(Source: Skybet)

HEAD TO HEAD

Clijsters leads 4-2

[year/venue/surface/round/winner/score]
2006 Sydney Hard R16 Clijsters 6-3 6-1
2006 Wimbledon Grass QF Clijsters 6-4 7-5
2007 Sydney Hard SF Clijsters 6-1 1-6 7-5
2007 Miami Hard R16 Li 4-6 6-4 6-2
2009 US Open Hard QF Clijsters 6-2 6-4
2011 Sydney Hard F Li 7-6 6-3

PRIZE MONEY

Winner: $2.2 million

Runner up: $1.1 million

NOT SO VITAL STATISTIC

Li Na's home city of Wuhan (9,000,000) has a population 300 times the size of that of Bilzen (30,000), Clijsters' birthplace.

With Reuters