China's Wimbledon dream melted in the blistering heat on Tuesday when Kim Clijsters ended Li Na's record-breaking run to the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 7-5 win.
Clijsters now takes on compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne for a place in the final but Li Na, the 24-year-old from Wuhan who made history by becoming the first Chinese player to make the last eight of a Grand Slam, had her chances. After losing the first set to the experienced second seed, the world number 30 let a 5-2 lead in the second set slip away. Li then had a set point in the ninth game but then had to dig deep to fend off two match points in the 12th.
Clijsters's greater experience of the big game occasion eventually proved crucial however with the Belgian moving into her second career Wimbledon semi-final when Li hit a forehand return long after an 87-minute Centre Court tussle.
Despite the defeat, Li, one of six women to have started the women's tournament, said she was never nervous about the prospect of playing on Centre Court for the first time.
"I just went onto the court and played the match," said Li. "I tried not to pay too much attention the surroundings because that would have affected my concentration.
"I played to my level and I reached my expectations. But it was a dream to play on Centre Court."
Clijsters, who made the semi-finals here once before losing to Venus Williams in 2003, said she was satisfied not to have gone to a third and deciding set.
"I'm really happy to have closed it out in two sets," said Clijsters.
"I knew she likes to play aggressively, so I had to do that too and I was happy to come back from a break down in the second set.
"I made too many unforced errors and let it slip away. But I recovered well. She made some mistakes and got a little nervous."
Li's next big date is leading China in a high-profile Fed Cup World Group play-off against Germany in Beijing on July 15 and 16. "This is the first time we have played at this level and I expect to win but Germany is a very strong team," she said.
"We have a lot of work to do."
WOMEN'S SINGLES QUARTER-FINALS: Maria Sharapova (RUS x4) bt Elena Dementieva (RUS x7) 6-1, 6-4; Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL x3) bt Severine Bremond (FRA) 6-4, 6-4; Kim Clijsters (BEL x2) bt Li Na (CHN x27) 6-4, 7-5; Amelie Mauresmo (FRA x1) bt Anastasia Myskina (RUS x9) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
MONDAY'S REMAINING RESULTS (x denotes seeded player):
WOMEN'S SINGLES 4TH ROUND: Amelie Mauresmo (FRA x1) bt Ana Ivanovic (SCG x19) 6-3, 6-4.
MEN'S SINGLES 4TH ROUND: Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE x13) 6-3, 6-3, 6-4; Mario Ancic (CRO x7) bt Novak Djokovic (SCG) 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3; Jarkko Nieminen (FIN x22) bt Dmitry Tursunov (RUS x27) 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(2/7), 6-7 (6/8), 9-7.