SIMONA HALEP AND RADWANSKA IN SEMIFINALS IN BNP PARIBAS OPEN 2014. 13 MARCH 2014.

Second seed Agnieszka Radwanska was made to work for a place in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals, holding off former champion and No. 7 seed Jelena Jankovic on Wednesday night in Indian Wells. Radwanska failed to hold onto a 4-0 lead in the decisive set, but won the final two games to claim a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 victory over the 2010 champion. The 25-year-old Pole previously reached the Indian Wells semifinals in 2010 (l. to Wozniacki). Radwanska next faces sixth seed Simona Halep, who reached the semifinals on her fourth appearance in the desert. Radwanska leads their head-to-head 3-2, but lost their most recent meeting this past January in the Doha semi-finals. The 22-year-old Halep went on to lift her seventh WTA trophy at the tourament (d. Kerber).

Halep defeated qualifier Casey Dellacqua 6-2, 6-2 in 61 minutes on Wednesday afternoon and could well break into the Top 5 of the WTA Rankings for the first time, dependent on results in Indian Wells. “I was moving really well today,” said Halep. “I had no pressure, and I was more relaxed than yesterday. I said that if I'm in quarterfinals I have to enjoy it.”