The day started with Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka falling to Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares in an untelevised match. Fedwrinka was fun while it lasted.
Novak Djokovic kicked off the singles action by beating Julien Benneteau in straightforward fashion.
John Isner won in the only way he knows how — in tiebreaks. He prevailed over Ernests Gulbis in two of them to set up a Saturday semifinal against Novak Djokovic.
Gulbis was a little frustrated.
Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost to Simona Halep during the Romanian’s title run in Doha, got her revenge, beating Halep in straight sets to reach the final.
Finally, Flavia Pennetta beat Li Na in straight sets in their semifinal, taking advantage of the World No. 2’s 52 unforced errors.
Li struggled on serve, hitting four double faults in one service game, including on break point.
It was Pennetta’s third top 10 win of 2014, and she’ll go for number four in the final against Radwanska.
Am enjoying the photo roundups – especially pics of matches I did not see. Great idea!
Wait, Pennetta has four top-10 wins this year alone. That can’t be right.