CHINA OPEN Beijing, China October 1-9, 2011 $4,500,000/Premier Hard/Outdoors
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Singles - Semifinals (9) Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. (Q) Monica Niculescu (ROU) 62 60
In an all-out, fight to the finish match in the quarterfinals, No. 26 Flavia Pennetta upset No. 1 seeded and No. 1 WTA ranked Caroline Wozniacki 3-6/6-0/7-6 (2).
Pennetta consecutively double faulted on a serve in the third set, but then turned it around by pulling ahead for a 5-3 lead. Not to be outdone, Wozniacki came back hitting winners and breaking her opponent’s serve to tie the set 6-6.
Fans were kept on the edges of their seats in a breathtaking third set tiebreaker. For one of the last few points, Pennetta hit a winner Wozniacki’s way for the lead 6-2.
A last minute rally determined Wozniacki’s fate, when Pennetta lobbed the ball far above her head to capture the win and a spot in the semifinals.
The Dane fared much better in the first set, winning it by three points. In the second set, Pennetta steamrolled over Wozniacki, taking it 6-0.
This is the first and the only time Pennetta has beat the world No.1 player, losing to her five times in previous matches.
Pennetta looks forward to the semifinals to compete against seeded No. 11 and WTA ranked No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland.
In another quarterfinals match, No. 9 seeded Andrea Petkovic, sent seeded No. 13 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova packing with a 6-3/7-6 (2) win.
