Tennis player with a love of credit-card shopping sprees says the prize money is helping her win

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China’s Li Na today joked that the thought of US$2.2 million in prize money inspired her gritty fightback in the Australian Open  semi-final.

Li, who had earlier detailed her love of credit-card shopping sprees, saved a match point against Danish world number one Caroline Wozniacki before becoming the first Asian woman to reach a  Grand Slam final.

Asked what enabled her to battle to victory when she looked beaten, Li had a simple answer.

“Prize money,” she said, to laughs from the crowd.

Li, 28, also put her slow start down to a sleepless night caused  by her husband-coach Jiang Shan’s snoring.

“I didn’t have a good night last night,” she said. “My husband (makes snoring noise). I woke up every hour.”  

Li, who had career prize money of $3,429,919 going into the tournament, will pocket another $2.18 million if she wins the title  on Saturday. Li beat Wozniacki 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.