Pennetta Shocks Li In Semifinals WTA - INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - Flavia Pennetta pulled off the biggest upset of the BNP Paribas Open on Friday night, stunning No.1 seed Li Na in straight sets to reach the biggest final of her whole career. The No.20-seeded Pennetta, who scored minor upsets earlier in the tournament against No.16 and No.17 seeds Sam Stosur and Sloane Stephens, was up against it as she took on No.1 seed Li - in the pairs only other meeting in the last four years, Li beat Pennetta easily at this years Australian Open . But Pennetta hung much tougher this time - after failing to consolidate on four breaks of serve she closed out a grueling 66-minute first set in a tie-break, and after falling behind 2-0 in the second set she reeled off six of the next seven games for a stunning 76(5) 63 victory in an hour and 48 minutes. She finished it on a massive backhand winner up the line - a dream ending to a massive upset. Her win over the World No.2 was her fourth Top 2 win, her first three at Zürich in 2008 (No.1 Jelena Jankovic ), Sydney in 2011 (No.2 Vera Zvonareva) and Beijing in 2011 (No.1 Caroline Wozniacki ). I think we played really good tennis tonight, Pennetta said. In Australia I didnt have any chance against her, but tonight I played much better. I just fought and tried my best. Of course Im happy. Its not bad. Its not like I lost my first match, Li said. At least I had a few matches in Indian Wells, and making the semifinals isnt bad, and its not like I lost to a bad player. She was playing really well. Pennetta is now in the biggest final of her career. She had been to three regular Premier- level finals before, winning Los Angeles in in 2009 and finishing runner-up at Los Angeles and Zürich in 2008. Im surprised, Pennetta said. In the beginning of the week if you told me, Youre going to make the final here, I would have said, Mmmm, I dont think so! So Im really happy. Im happy with my game. Awaiting her in the final is No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat No.6 seed Simona Halep in the first semifinal (read more here ). Radwanska leads Pennetta in their head-to-head series, 4-2 , but in their only meeting in the last two years, Pennetta won pretty handily in Dubai a few weeks ago. I have to be really aggressive. I have to go for winners, Pennetta said of Radwanska. But I cant rush too much, because shes a wall. I mean, I have to make seven times the winners against her. But I played really well against her in Dubai, so I hope to play the same way this time. Unfortunately I lost to her the last time - we played in Dubai, Radwanska said. I think similar to Halep, Im looking forward to playing her and getting a little bit of revenge. Itll be a tough one.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:47:31 +0000
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