Milestones in the progress of Chinese women's tennis after Li Na reached the final of the Australian Open on Thursday:

2004

August - Sun Tiantian and Li Ting win China's first Olympic gold medal in the sport in the women's doubles at the Athens Games.

October - Li Na is the first Chinese to win a WTA Tour singles title, in Guangzhou.

2005

January - Zheng Jie wins her first WTA Tour title at Hobart.

2006

January - Zheng Jie and Yan Zi win China's first grand slam title in the women's doubles at the Australian Open.

May - Zheng wins the first all-Chinese final at a WTA event when Li Na withdraws injured from the Estoril final.

June - Li Na becomes the first Chinese player to reach the quarter-finals of grand slam at Wimbledon. Zheng and Yan win a second grand slam doubles title.

July - Li Na and Zheng lead China's team into the Fed Cup World Group for the first time with a victory over Germany in Beijing.

August - Li Na becomes the first Chinese player to reach the top 20 in the world rankings.

2008

June - Zheng, a 133rd-ranked wildcard, beats top seed Ana Ivanovic on her way to the semi-finals at Wimbledon, the first Chinese to reach the last four at a grand slam.

August - Zheng and Yan win bronze in women's doubles at the Beijing Olympics, while Li Na misses out on a medal after defeat to Vera Zvonareva in the bronze medal match.

2010

January - Zheng and Li Na reach the last four at the Australian Open, the first time China has had two players in the last four at a grand slam. Lose to Justine Henin and eventual champion Serena Williams respectively.

- Li Na becomes the first Chinese player to reach the women's top 10 in the world rankings.

June - Li Na wins her third WTA tour title at the Edgbaston Classic Wimbledon warm-up, beating Maria Sharapova in the final.

- Li Na reaches quarter-finals at Wimbledon for a second time, losing to Serena Williams.

2011

January - Li comes back from 5-0 down in the first set to beat Kim Clijsters in the final and win the Sydney International, her first premier level WTA title.

- Peng Shuai beats seventh seed Jelena Jankovic on her way to her first grand slam fourth round appearance at Melbourne Park.

- Li beats world number one and top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to become the first Chinese to reach a grand slam singles final.

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