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After relatively mild conditions during the tournament so far, weather forecasts anticipate that the men’s final will take place on the first day of the Australian summer to hit 40C. That will be almost 10 degrees hotter than the expected temperature for the women’s final on Saturday.

In addition to reaching her first Grand Slam final at this year’s Australian Open, Na Li has also been the comic success of the tournament. A sample of her one-liners:

On how she could top a title:
“If I win this year, maybe next year I will retire”

On being told she was a ‘Chinese wall’ after beating ‘Danish wall’ Caroline Wozniacki:
“I think Chinese wall more famous.”

On going down match point against Wozniacki in the semifinals before winning in three sets:
“I didn’t have a very good evening because my husband sleep like [snoring noise].”

On how she plans to get a good night’s sleep ahead of her next match:
“I think today he can stay in the bathroom.”

On what kept her going in the match:
“Prize money.”

On how her husband, also her coach, motivates her:
“Credit card. Every time I win, I can take the credit card and I can buy anything I want.”

On scouting upcoming opponents:
“I think this is my husband’s job. I just lie down in the bed enjoy watch TV, that’s all.”

Novak Djokovic is busy winning Down Under but at home, politicking continues between his father and Serbian federation president Bobo Zivojinovic.

Last year, Srdjan Djokovic announced he would be fielding candidates for election to the board of the federation, an attempt to get support to build a national tennis centre. But despite such efforts, Zivojinovic was re-elected as president of the federation this week. He promised to focus “all our efforts towards building the National Tennis Centre.”

Zivojinovic also said that Novak would not play the opening round of Davis Cup this year, having led the team to victory last season. The decision was about scheduling, not politics, insisted Zivonjinovic.

“Novak will be missing from the Davis Cup team for the tie against India as he will be preparing for the US tour which he played really poorly two years ago,” said the newly re-elcted president. ” Also, there is no need to have a player like him on the team. We can do without him against India. I have no doubt this has nothing to do with Djokovic snubbing me and refusing to play for the Davis Cup team.”

Roger Federer, speaking to the media after his straight-sets loss to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals:

—Ed McGrogan

Kim Clijsters: “I was obviously surprised when I heard that news this morning. To be honest, I haven’t been in touch with her, so I can’t really know what the situation is with her elbow.

“Obviously it’s a sad situation to see such a great player end her career in this kind of way.”

Vera Zvonareva: “You never want to see player like Justine retire, because she’s great for women’s tennis. Her achievements were great. She has done a lot for women’s tennis.

“I played her so many times and I never beat her, so that’s probably the biggest memory that I have.

“She’s a great player. Definitely miss her on the tour. You never want to see a player retiring because of an injury

Caroline Wozniacki: “Justine is a great champion and she’s been unlucky since she made the comeback. She’s injured… Definitely growing up I was watching and looking at her playing and winning slams.”

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—The top-ranked team of Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Italian Flavia Pennetta rallied from a set and 4-1 down to beat Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 for the Australian Open women’s doubles title Friday.

It was the first Grand Slam title for the Dulko-Pennetta combination, who made it to the quarterfinals at all the Grand Slams last year and the Wimbledon semifinals.

Dulko and Pennetta, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 among doubles players, were already up a break in the deciding set at 3-1 when they broke again when Kirilenko netted a backhand.

They held in their next service game, then broke Azaranka and Kirilenko again to close out the match.

Dulko and Pennetta won seven doubles titles last year, including a 17-match winning streak.

“Last year was a great year, this year we are starting really good,” Pennetta said.

Azarenka and Kirilenko were playing their first Grand Slam tournament together. Azarenka, of Belarus, formerly was a two-time Grand Slam finalist, including last year at Melbourne Park with Shahar Peer.

Kirilenko’s best previous doubles result was a semifinal at last year’s Australian Open with Agnieszka Radwanksa.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—Kim Clijsters thinks that 2011 will “probably” be her last full year on the tennis tour.

When asked Friday if the Australian Open women’s final could be her last appearance at Melbourne Park, the 27-year-old Clijsters replied: “Yeah, it is.”

“I know this is probably going to be my last full season on the tour, and then we’ll see,” Clijsters said ahead of Saturday’s final against China’s Li Na.

Fellow Belgian and former No. 1-ranked Justine Henin retired for a second time on Wednesday, citing a lingering elbow injury that forced her off the tour after Wimbledon last year. She won seven Grand Slam singles titles.

“Obviously it’s a sad situation to see such a great player end her career in this kind of way,” Clijsters said this week.

Clijsters returned to the tour in late 2009 after a 2 1/2 -year break, during which she got married and had a child. She won the U.S. Open in her third tournament back and has won five singles titles in all since her return, including the 2010 U.S. Open.

When she won the 2009 U.S. Open, she became the first mother to win a Grand Slam singles title since Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon in 1980.

On Friday at her pre-final news conference, she said the birth of her daughter, Jada, and the death of her father, Leo, may have contributed to her return to the tour.

“Obviously so many things happened in those two years—the loss of my dad as well was something that kind of triggered me trying to do something different for a while to kind of get my mind off it and to try and put some time into kind of myself,” she said.

She was also asked, based on Henin’s injury-forced retirement, if coming back the second time had been more difficult.

“I had injuries before, so I knew when I started again I knew that that could be part of the second career as well,” Clijsters said.

“It’s not just all the beautiful things that I thought of when I started again.”

Clijsters has three major titles, all at the U.S. Open. Her best previous run at the Australian Open ended in a loss to Henin in the 2004 final.