Indian Wells: Li Na beaten by Flavia Pennetta in semi-final

  • Published
Flavia PennettaImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Flavia Pennetta

Flavia Pennetta shocked world number two Li Na to reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Italian Pennetta, the 20th seed, won 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to set up a meeting with Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Romanian Simona Halep 6-3 6-4.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic, the world number two, beat Julien Benneteau 6-1 6-3 to reach the men's semi-finals.

He faces John Isner in the last four after the American saw off Latvian Ernests Gulbis 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3).

Roger Federer meets Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in the other semi-final, both of which will be played on Saturday.

China's Li served nine double faults and made a series of forehand errors and Pennetta, also 32, capitalised to reach the biggest final of her career.

"I don't think I was playing bad; it was pretty high-level match," said Li. "Some points I was feeling I still have a chance, (but on the) more important points I got double fault."

Djokovic, 26, was in fine form, breaking unseeded Frenchman Benneteau twice in each set without facing a break point as he wrapped up victory in 68 minutes.

He is seeking his first title of 2014 after reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and Dubai.

"I had to stay focused," said Djokovic. "Today he made a lot of unforced errors. I tried to make the most of those opportunities when they were presented."

Both finals will be held on Sunday.

Around the BBC

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.