Pennetta, Zheng make Auckland final

Flavia Pennetta and Zheng Jie posted wins Friday and advanced to the title match of the ASB Classic tennis tournament in New Zealand. Pennetta, seeded No. 4, routed Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-2 in less than an hour and Zheng topped third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. It was the second consecutive match that Pennetta dropped just three games. She won nearly two-thirds of the points and had five service breaks in eight games against Kerber. Pennetta landed just 43 percent of her first serves but didn't have a double fault and won more than 70 points of the points on serve. Zheng beat Kuznetsova for the first time in seven career meetings but needed nearly 2 1/2 hours to finish off the win. She lost her serve five times but only once in each of the last two sets. Pennetta holds a 3-2 lifetime edge over Zheng, including winning both matches they played since 2006. Pennetta, the runner-up in Auckland in 2010, will be going for her 10th WTA title on Saturday. Zheng has three championships but the most recent was in August 2006.