FLAVIA PENNTTA INTO FINAL OF BNP PARIBAS OPEN 2014

Flavia Pennetta pulled off a big upset at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday in a stunning 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over top seed Li Na for a place in the final, where she will meet second seed Agnieszka Radwanska. "I'm surprised," said Pennetta. "In the beginning of the week if you told me, 'You're going to make the final here,' I would have said, 'Mmmm, I don't think so!' So I'm really happy. I'm happy with my game. "I think we played really good tennis tonight. In Australia I didn't have any chance against her, but tonight I played much better. I just fought and tried my best. Of course I'm happy." Pennetta is currently projected to rise to No. 14 in the WTA Rankings on Monday. But if she were to lift the biggest title of her career, at the WTA Premier Mandatory tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the 32-year-old Italian would rise to No. 12. 

 Pennetta failed to consolidate on four breaks of serve and was forced to close out a dramatic tie-break to win the 66-minute first set. She fell 0-2 down in the second set, but won six of the next seven games, finishing with a backhand winner down the line, for victory in one hour and 48 minutes. It was her fourth win over a Top 2 opponent, following on from victories at 2008 Zurich (d. No. 1 Jankovic), 2011 Sydney (d. No. 2 Zvonareva) and 2011 Beijing (d. No. 1 Wozniacki). "At least I had a few matches in Indian Wells, and making the semi-finals isn't bad, and it's not like I lost to a bad player,” said Li Na. “She was playing really well today. It's nothing to worry about. I have a couple things I want to improve for the next tournament." Martina Navratilova is the oldest singles champion in Indian Wells, winning the 1991 title agaed 34 years and five months. Pennetta has reached three WTA Premier-level title matches, lifting the 2009 Los Angeles trophy after a runner-up finish there the year before. 
She also reached the 2008 Zurich final. Radwanska leads Pennetta 4-2 in their head-to-head series. "I have to be really aggressive. I have to go for winners," said Pennetta, looking ahead to the final. "But I can't rush too much, because she's 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."