American Venus Williams who has had a very difficult time on WTA Tour due to precarious health issues, has never shown any signs of slowing down and amidst her plummeting rankings and health problems; she has kept her morale intact. With an iron-will and unquenchable thirst to improve, this former World No. 1 is still a force to be reckoned with on WTA Tour. Venus missed out many key tournaments this year and she has a good 16-7 win-loss record. The American is bidding for her 44th career title and for a place in the final of Cincinnati Open, she faces Chinese Li Na.

Gunning for her sixth career title, Li Na has emerged as another enigmatic contender on tour after her scintillating Grand Slam victory in 2011. The Chinese contender became a household name in Asia after that triumph but she failed to maintain that form. Now, looking resilient and determined to redeem her position in the WTA Rankings, Li has an ordinary 29-12 win-loss record for the season.  She has not won any title in the new season and the way she has played so far in 2012, it seems that Li needs some luck and a few consistent wins to get some much-needed confidence.

Interestingly both the players have met two times before and Na Li has won both of them. Last time they met at  2010 Australian Open , where Na Li won 2-6 7-6(4) 7-5