Na Li Advances to WTA Stuttgart Finals; World No. 5 From China Will Play Maria Sharapova In Championship Match

World No. 5 Na Li of China has advanced into her first final since the Australian Open this past January, defeating American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals of the WTA Tour event in Stuttgart, Germany. She will play world No. 2 Maria Sharapova of Russia, who moved into the finals earlier today in Stuttgart with a three-set win over Angelique Kerber of Germany.

Li encountered some resistance against the American qualifier, but the world No. 5 from China broke Mattek Sand's serve five times throughout the match, including three times in the second set. She was also particularly impressive on serve, landing 68 percent of her first serves in and winning 63 percent of her. A backhand sent long from Mattek-Sands wrapped up the match after 92 minutes of play.

The 31-year-old Li has compiled one of the best records on tour this year, racking up a 20-3 record so far in 2013. She won the WTA Tour event in Shenzhen, China and also reached the finals of the Australian Open for the second consecutive year. She is still looking for her first title in 2013.

Despite the loss, this week was one of the best results of Mattek- Sands' career. After an injury-plagued 2012, she is starting to find the form that took her to the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2008. She reached the finals of the WTA Tour event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia earlier this year, marking the first she had reached a final in over two years. After starting 2013 ranked No. 169, she is predicted to move up to No. 72 after this week's result.

Li and Sharapova have played against each other 13 times, with Sharapova leading the head-to-head series 8-5 and winning two of their three career clay court matches. However, Li has won their only match against each other so far in 2013, when she prevailed in the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Earlier this month, Li was included as part of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People list.