Tennis: BNP Paribas Open-Pennetta v Li
Tennis: BNP Paribas Open-Pennetta v Li Reuters

Early in the tournament Flavia Pennetta did not believe she had what it takes to make the championship round of the BNP Paribas Open 2014 in Indian Wells, California. But after a huge upset victory in the semifinal round, she’s now a believer that she can go all the way to the WTA title.

Penneta from Italy beat top seed Li Na of China in the final four, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to advance to the final against Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated Simona Halep of Romania in the other semis match, 6-3, 6-4.

"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,” said Pennetta in an article in the tournament’s official website.

Pennetta needs to remain in form against second seed Radwanska who leads the head-to-head series, 4-2.

“What I was trying to do was play aggressively from the beginning of the match and just try to go for my shots,” said Radwanska after her match against Halep. “I was lucky. I think I was serving better than other days, so that helped today as well. I think it was a pretty good match.”

Radwanska has won three of the last four matches between the two but Pennetta was victorious in the last one— a 6-4, 6-1 win in the Round of 16 of the Dubai Tennis Championships last February.

The BNP Paribas Open 2014 Women’s Final is scheduled to start at 6 am AEDT. Watch the Pennetta-Radwanska LIVE via the official website.

BNP Paribas Open 2014 Women’s Final Betting Odds

Flavia Pennetta (Italy) vs. Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland)
 Match Odds: Pennetta (2.87) vs. Radwanska (1.42)
Game Handicap: Pennetta (+3.5) vs. Radwanska (-3.5)