Melbourne , Australia ( CNN ) -- Li Na took advantage of her second chance at the Australian Open . The Chinese tennis trailblazer was a point away from exiting in the third round but survived against Lucie Safarova and did n't lose another set the rest of the tournament . The world No . 4 beat diminutive dynamo Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 ( 7-3 ) 6-0 in Saturday 's final to collect a second grand slam title following her success at the 2011 French Open . Li also made it third time lucky in Melbourne after defeats in the 2011 and 2013 finale . `` At least , you know , I made it , '' Li told reporters . `` Not like the last two times , always feeling ( there was ) one more step . But this time I 'm so proud myself . '' The 31-year-old was a popular champion -- receiving the lion 's share of applause when the players were introduced at Rod Laver Arena -- and likely attracted even more fans thanks to her comical post-match speech on court . Read more : Full coverage of CNN 's Open Court . Li began by thanking her agent , Max Eisenbud , who also represents Maria Sharapova . `` Max , my agent , thanks for making me rich , '' said Li , named last year by Forbes as the third richest female athlete in the world behind Sharapova and Serena Williams with takings of $ 18.2 million . Li later mentioned her husband Jiang Shan , who in the past has been the butt of the baseliner 's jokes . `` Now of course my husband is even famous in China , '' she said . `` You are a nice guy . Also you are so lucky to find me ! '' The 5-foot-3 Cibulkova was appearing in her maiden grand slam final and a victory would have made the 24th-ranked Slovakian the joint shortest singles winner at a major in the Open Era . No one would have begrudged her the title , too , since she had topped four players inside the top 20 including Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska . Li , meanwhile , did n't face anyone inside the top 20 . `` This was just a fantastic two weeks of my life , '' said Cibulkova , who cried as she addressed the crowd . `` This means a lot for our country and I 'm happy I could be the one here for Slovakia . `` Maybe tomorrow morning I will be 100 % proud of myself , '' she later told reporters . `` But now it 's just maybe like 50 % . '' Expected to defeat Cibulkova -- she had won all four previous meetings with the 24-year-old -- Li proceeded to break early and took a 2-0 lead . But she admitted to being nervous and after the hard-hitting Cibulkova saved a break point to avoid trailing 3-0 , she rallied to grab a 4-3 lead . `` Today it was very dangerous , '' Li 's coach Carlos Rodriguez , long associated with seven-time grand slam champion Justine Henin , told CNN . `` You 're in the final for the third time , you 've never been the favorite before , you are today , you have to deal with such a good player who has beaten the top five and top three during the second week . '' Li held serve under pressure at 4-5 and then broke for 6-5 . Instead of kicking on , though , she missed a backhand down the line on set point and a tiebreak was needed to decide the opener . Li took a convincing 5-1 lead as she settled down and once the set was decided , she relaxed -- and Cibulkova could n't recover from the tiebreak . `` She was going for her shots , '' Cibulkova told reporters . `` After it was impossible for me to do something and be aggressive because she was just really , really playing well . '' Whereas the first set lasted 70 minutes , the second went a mere 27 minutes . Cibulkova won 12 points and sent a forehand long on match point to end Li 's disappointment in Melbourne . `` Finally I got her , '' Li said , referring to the trophy . On Sunday , Rafael Nadal goes for his 14th major when he faces Stanislas Wawrinka in the men 's final . Nadal owns a 12-0 record against the Swiss , making his debut in a grand slam final like Cibulkova , without conceding a set . Read more : Roger Federer still ca n't figure out Rafael Nadal . Read more : Size does n't matter for Dominika Cibulkova .
Li Na beats Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets to win the Australian Open . It 's Li 's second grand slam title after she won the 2011 French Open . TL;DR