An in-form Italian Flavia Pennetta takes on Russian Alisa Kleybanova for a place in the semifinals of the 2011 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, a WTA premier event being played here in Dubai, UAE.

In 2009, Flavia Pennetta became the first Italian ever to enter the top 10 in WTA singles rankings and gave inspiration to the current crop of Italian stars including the veteran Francesca Schiavone who followed in the foot steps and reached new heights. Pennetta's last singles title win came in Marbella almost a year ago where she claimed the top honours. Ever since, she has been seen jubilating her victories in the doubles arena, the most significant of which was her win in Australia with partner Gisela Dulko.

Pennetta's opponent, Russian Alisa Kleybanova is one of the most talented WTA players in the current horizon. After finishing a semifinalist in Sydney, Kleybanova picked up one of the biggest wins of her career here in Dubai when she beat World No.3 Vera Zvonareva in straight sets.

Both players have met three times before with Pennetta scoring easy wins in each one of them. This time will be no different as the Italian is in superb form and is likely to finish this one in straight sets.

TennisEarth.com's Pick - Flavia Pennetta in straight sets.