Flavia Pennetta has become the first Italian to reach the semi-finals at the BNP Paribas Open

Flavia Pennetta has become the first Italian to reach the semi-finals at the BNP Paribas Open. 

She will challenge top seed Na Li on Saturday. The 32-year-old Pennetta, who is currently No. 21 in the WTA Rankings, defeated No. 18-ranked American Sloane Stephens 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours and 26 minutes on Thursday. “We didn't play our best tennis,” said Pennetta. “The third set was a disaster for both of us… You try to do what's normally very easy for you, and everything seems so difficult.” The Italian won 83 per cent of her first service points in the 43-minute opener, breaking serve once at 3-3. Stephens committed 21 unforced errors and could not convert any of her three break point opportunities.

 There were four breaks of serve in the first five games of the second set, as Pennetta and Stephens each struggled for consistency in their stroke play. Stephens withstood three break points for a 4-3 lead, but in her next service game three groundstroke errors proved costly. Pennetta came within two points of winning the match on serve at 5-4. But Stephens bounced back by winning three straight games to keep alive her hopes of reaching her first semi-final since January 2013 at the Australian Open. The wind picked up at the start of the decider, causing a sand storm. Stephens managed the conditions better and came within one point of taking a 4-0 lead. But Pennetta used her experience to recover three straight games and saved two break points at 3-4, before breaking Stephens for a 5-4 lead. Despite getting only 45 per cent of first serve into play, Pennetta had found a way to win. She reached the 48th semi-final of her career and her first since the 2013 US Open by converting her fifth match point opportunity.

Pennetta is attempting to lift her 10th WTA singles title. She has not lifted a trophy since 2010 Marbella. Stephens, 20, had previously reached the Indian Wells second round on all four of her previous appearances. “I wasn't playing my best at the beginning,” admitted Stephens. “It was a bit up and down, but I just tried to battle and stay in there. [In the] second set, [I] was playing better and better. Then the wind came, which was pretty unfortunate. I just tried to do my best and fight and battle for every point. It was unfortunate that I lost.”