Chinese fans paint Melbourne Park red before Li final

Flag-draped fans hailing from all parts of China painted the grounds of Melbourne Park red ahead of the women’s final on Saturday, confidently predicting another upset win for Li Na over Kim Clijsters.

The 28-year-old from the Yangtze river port of Wuhan will bid to become her country’s first grand slam singles champion at Rod Laver Arena and the chance to be part of a watershed moment had Chinese fans wearing love hearts on their sleeves.

“This isn’t just a big moment for China, this is a big moment for the whole of Asia,” said Eric Zhang from the Pearl River Delta city of Guangzhou, wearing a red checkered shirt to match the colour of his face paint.

“I think she can win for sure. She beat Clijsters in Sydney and is very calm,” he added, referring to Li’s defeat of the Belgian in the final of a warm-up event.

“I don’t play tennis but I’m addicted to watching,” he said.

Zhang’s university class mate Nancy Jin from Hangzhou, a booming metropolis near Shanghai, was joining her friend in the stands at Rod Laver Arena and promised to make some noise.

“I think this will definitely make more people take an interest in tennis,” she said, shielding her half-painted face from the glaring afternoon sun.

Cui Tingting wore a long red dress plastered with big yellow stars in the style of the national flag and said Li had inspired China with her never-say-die spirit.

“We’re getting extra water for tonight, because the last match against (Caroline) Wozniacki was almost too hot for us to bear,” she laughed, having sat nervously through Li’s comeback semi-final win over the top-seeded Dane.

Serena Ding, who chose her English name after being inspired by American former world number one Serena Williams, was also confident of victory, but worried the media had put too much pressure on Li, the country’s first WTA title winner and top 10 player.

“But she’s obviously very calm at the moment. She’s very funny and I think her husband helps her relax,” she said, referring to Li’s coach Jiang Shan, who the player has credited for helping her mount a scorching run in Melbourne.

“I was here when she lost to Serena in the semi-finals last year, so she’d better do better this time!”