Li Na beats Dominika Cibulkova to win Australian Open final

China's Li Na won her second Grand Slam title with victory over Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova at the Australian Open.

Li, seeded fourth, came through an edgy first set from both women to dominate the second and win 7-6 (7-3) 6-0. It was the 31-year-old's third Australian Open final and brings her a second major title after the 2011 French Open.

"Finally I got her [the Australian Open trophy]," said Li. "The last two finals were very close. Now I have to thank my team. Thanks to my agent for making me rich, thanks a lot."

Cibulkova said: "It was my first Grand Slam final and I'm just proud with the way I handled it. I wanted to play my best tennis but it wasn't easy against her because she was playing extremely well, so I'm quite happy."

Seven years older, with a 4-0 head-to-head record and facing a player making her Grand Slam final debut, Li had been a strong favourite against 20th seed Cibulkova.

In the event, it was the Chinese player's aggressive start to the tie-break that eventually got her over the line, her backhand doing much of the damage as she moved into a 5-1 lead and sealed the set after a largely unconvincing 70 minutes.

With the tension lifted and now swinging more freely, Li found her range at the start of the second and swept a winner into the corner on her way to an immediate break.

A rasping backhand winner helped her to two match points and, when Cibulkova fired over the baseline on the second, Li raised her arms in delight at finally prevailing in a Melbourne final at the third attempt.