TEMPO.CO, Indian Wells - Italian veteran tennis player Flavia Pennetta slammed the Australian Open Grand Slam Champion, Li Na 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the BNP Paribas Open tournament semifinal in Indian Wells yesterday.
The 32-year-old Penetta lost to Li Na in the Australian Open quarter final last January. But this time Penetta seemed too good for Li Na to handle. Pennetta hit 12 winners to 22 unforced errors. Li Na produced 29 winners but 52 unforced errors and faced many problems with her serve, as Pennetta broke her six times.
"I think we played really good tennis tonight," Pennetta said as quoted by Reuters. "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."
China’s Li Na admitted her double faults were contributing to her loss but the world’s number 2 did not seem too upset with the result.
"At least I had a few matches here, and making semis isn't bad," said Li Na as quoted by Reuters. "It’s not like I lost to a bad player. She was playing really well today. It's nothing to worry about. I have a couple of things I want to improve for the next tournament."
The 20th seeded Flavia Pennetta has booked her ticket to today’s final where the world’s number 3 Agnieszka Radwanska awaits. The Poland’s best woman tennis player has defeated Romanian Simona Halep 6-3 6-4 at the semifinal.
REUTERS | AGUS BAHARUDIN