After saving a match point in the third round against Lucie Safarova, she has started all her matches aggressively.
It worked against Bouchard, who didn't win a point in her first three service games in a nervous start. In the second set, the pair exchanged four service breaks in the first six games before Li finally took charge.
Fittingly, Li finished off the match with a backhand crosscourt, one of 16 backhand winners in the match and her biggest weapon against Bouchard.
The Canadian teenager was playing only her fourth Grand Slam tournament, and became just the second player from her country to reach a major semifinal.
"I think maybe she will be best player in the world. But today (I'm) so lucky," Li said. Bouchard attracted a big cheering section in Australia, with the group swelling in numbers after her first match on Court 15 and calling itself the "Genie Army."
Li jokingly apologized to the Genie Army after the match, undoubtedly increasing her own huge support base at Melbourne Park.
"Sorry about that," she said. "If you guys be happy, I will go home."
