_(19300934912).jpg) Flavia Pennetta at the 2015 French Open | |
| Country (sports) |  Italy |
|---|---|
| Residence | Brindisi, Italy |
| Born | (1982-02-25)25 February 1982 (age 43) Brindisi |
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Turned pro | 25 February 2000 |
| Retired | 29 October 2015 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $14,197,886[1] |
| Official website | flaviapennetta.eu |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 582–365 |
| Career titles | 11 |
| Highest ranking | No. 6 (28 September 2015) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | QF (2014) |
| French Open | 4R (2008,2010,2015) |
| Wimbledon | 4R (2005,2006,2013) |
| US Open | W (2015) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Tour Finals | RR (2015) |
| Olympic Games | 3R (2012) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 393–243 |
| Career titles | 17 |
| Highest ranking | No.1 (28 February 2011) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | W (2011) |
| French Open | QF (2010,2015) |
| Wimbledon | SF (2010,2012) |
| US Open | F (2005,2014) |
| Other doubles tournaments | |
| Tour Finals | W (2010) |
| Olympic Games | QF (2008) |
| Team competitions | |
| Fed Cup | W (2006,2009,2010,2013), record 25–5 |
Flavia Pennetta (Italian pronunciation:[ˈflaːvjapenˈnetta]; born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professionaltennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be rankedworld No. 1 in doubles, on 28 February 2011. She is aGrand Slam champion in both doubles and singles, having won the2011 Australian Open women's doubles title withGisela Dulko, and the2015 US Open singles title over childhood friendRoberta Vinci in the first all-Italian major final.[2]
Pennetta won ten otherWTA singles titles, including the2014 Indian Wells Open, where she defeated the top two seeds. She also was a mainstay in theFed Cup team competition, helpingItaly win four titles in2006,2009,2010, and2013. Her other highlights in doubles include winning the2010 WTA Finals with Dulko and finishing runner-up at the2005 and2014 US Open tournaments, partnering respectively withElena Dementieva andMartina Hingis.
After winning the 2015 US Open, Pennetta announced she would retire at the end of the season, playing her last tournament at herWTA Finals singles debut. There, she defeated eventual championAgnieszka Radwańska in theround-robin stage and retired with a top-ten singles ranking.
Pennetta was pronounced aKnight of Order of Merit of the Republic on 24 January 2007 byCarlo Azeglio Ciampi, thenPresident of Italy.[3]
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Pennetta was introduced to tennis at the age of five by her father.[4] At age 17, she won the1999 French Open in girls' doubles with fellow ItalianRoberta Vinci.[4]
Pennetta began to play on theITF Women's Circuit in 1997.[4] The following year, she lost in the second round of her first qualifying tournament for aWTA Tour main draw, theInternazionali Femminili di Palermo. In 1999, Pennetta won two singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.[4] She was unsuccessful in her several attempts to qualify for WTA Tour main draws in 2000. The following year, she limited her play to the ITF Circuit.
She played her first WTA Tour main-draw match at theCellular South Cup in 2002, when she lost in the first round. She also lost in the first round in Palermo, but reached the second round of theIdea Prokom Open in Sopot.[4] Her ranking reached the top 100 for the first time on 23 September 2002, when she reached No. 100.[4]
In 2003, Pennetta lost in the semifinals of theHyderabad Open to eventual championTamarine Tanasugarn. She also reached the quarterfinals at theCanberra Women's Classic,Copa Colsanitas, andAbierto Mexicano Telcel. She debuted in the main draws of all four Grand Slam tournaments. Her best result was the third round of theRoland Garros, where she defeated 21st-seeded AmericanLisa Raymond in the second round, before losing to Hungary'sPetra Mandula.[4]
Pennetta started the year at the Tier V Canberra Classic, where she lost in the quarterfinals toJulia Vakulenko. At theAustralian Open, she lost in the first round to ItalianAntonella Serra Zanetti in straight sets.[4]
Pennetta then lost in the first round of both the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee and the Copa Colsanitas in Bogotá, Colombia. These losses were followed by her first WTA Tour final at the Mexicano Open in Acapulco, where she was defeated byIveta Benešová.
She played both of theTier I springtime hardcourt tournaments in the United States. She beatĽudmila Cervanová in the first round of thePacific Life Open in Indian Wells before losing to Maria Sharapova. She then lost in the first round of qualifying for theNASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne.[4]
Returning to clay courts, Pennetta lost in the second round of two consecutive WTA tournaments, theMorocco Open in Casablanca and thePortugal Open in Estoril. At theBudapest Grand Prix, Pennetta lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Jelena Janković in straight sets. She then defeated world No. 6,Nadia Petrova, in the second round of theInternazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome before falling to world No. 21,Anna Smashnova, in the third round. At theFrench Open, Pennetta lost in the first round, once more to Smashnova in straight sets.
In the first grass-court tournament of her career, she defeatedMarion Bartoli in the first round of theDFS Classic inBirmingham, before losing to world No. 32,Alicia Molik, in the second round. Pennetta achieved the same result at theOrdina Open, falling to world No. 85,Barbara Schett. AtWimbledon, she was beaten by Petrova in the first round, in three sets.
In July, she played yet another clay-court tournament, where she was beaten in the final of the Internazionali di Palermo byAnabel Medina Garrigues. Returning to hardcourts for the first time since April, she lost toHenrieta Nagyová in the first round of theNordic Light Open in Stockholm. The following week at the clay-court tournament inSopot, Poland, Pennetta won her first WTA Tour title, defeatingKlára Koukalová in the final.[4] Pennetta then lost to formerworld No. 1,Lindsay Davenport, in the quarterfinals of theCincinnati Open, and to world No. 25,Magdalena Maleeva, in the first round of theUS Open, 6–2, 4–6, 4–6.
Pennetta played four tournaments the remainder of the year. At theWismilak International in Bali, Pennetta lost in the second round to eventual quarterfinalist Gisela Dulko. She then fell toMaría Vento-Kabchi in the first round of theChina Open in Beijing and toTamarine Tanasugarn in the second round of theGuangzhou International Open. In her final event of the year, she lost to world No. 14,Ai Sugiyama, in the second round of theZurich Open, in two sets.[4]
In Pennetta's first event of the year, she reached the quarterfinals of theBrisbane International losing toTatiana Golovin in three sets. She then lost in the first rounds of theAustralian Open and theOpen Gaz de France. In the next two weeks she won two titles in a row, the first oneCopa Colsanitas defeatingLourdes Domínguez Lino in the finals, 7–6, 6–4, and the second one in theMexican Open, defeatingĽudmila Cervanová in three sets. Pennetta lost early in her next tournaments. The second rounds of thePacific Life Open, theGerman Open and theRome Masters. She also lost in the first round of theEstoril Open and the third rounds of theMiami Masters and theFrench Open. She bounced back in theWimbledon Championships by reaching the fourth round losing toMary Pierce in straight sets and the semifinals of both theInternazionali di Modena and the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo which were held in Italy. She followed it up with losses to Japanese playersAkiko Morigami inSan Diego Classic andAiko Nakamura inLA Championships. In theRogers Cup she was crushed by eventual championKim Clijsters 6–0, 6–1. In theUS Open she was upset by GermanJulia Schruff in the first round. She also lost early in the China Open in the first round and theKremlin Cup in the second round to eventual champion Mary Pierce. She ended the year with quarterfinal appearances in the Wismilak International, thePorsche Tennis Grand Prix, and theZurich Open. She ended the year ranked No. 23 in the world.
Flavia had a good start to the 2006 season, finishing runner-up atGold Coast againstLucie Šafářová. AtSydney, she was defeated byLi Na in the first round. Going into theAustralian Open, Pennetta defeatedCara Black andMartina Suchá, before falling toNicole Vaidišová in the third round. AtParis, she was upset by rising starSania Mirza in two sets.
Pennetta started to pick up her pace as the season went on, with two runner-up showings atBogotá andAcapulco, losing to Lourdes Domínguez Lino andAnna-Lena Grönefeld, respectively.
Pennetta begun 2007 with three first-round loses atGold Coast,Hobart and theAustralian Open, falling toMaria Kirilenko,Aiko Nakamura andKaia Kanepi, respectively.
Her next two tournaments went well, as she has a semifinal showing atBogotá (falling to Roberta Vinci) and made it all the way to the final ofAcapulco, where she lost toÉmilie Loit. Then she lost four straight matches atIndian Wells,Miami,Amelia Island andCharleston. She managed to take a win fromArantxa Parra Santonja atEstoril before getting overpowered by Gisela Dulko. Then came another streak of first-round losses – atBerlin,Rome, and the French Open.
AtBarcelona, Flavia made it to the semifinals, where she was beaten byMeghann Shaughnessy. Then at's-Hertogenbosch, she defeatedKarin Knapp andTatjana Malek to make it to the quarterfinals, where she lost toDinara Safina. She was eliminated in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships.
She made it to the semifinals ofBiella, falling toAgnieszka Radwańska.
Pennetta started the year by losing in the second round of theAustralian Hardcourts in Gold Coast to Dinara Safina.[4] Pennetta then reached the semifinals of theHobart International, where she lost to eventual championEleni Daniilidou. At theAustralian Open, she defeatedDominika Cibulková in the first round but fell to the 30th-seededVirginie Razzano in the second round.[4] Pennetta then played forItaly's Fed Cup team versusSpain. She played one singles match versus Anabel Medina Garrigues and lost.[4] Pennetta won her first title of the year at theCachantún Cup in Viña del Mar, Chile, defeatingKlára Zakopalová in the final.[4] However, she lost in the first round of theCopa Colsanitas toBetina Jozami. Pennetta then won her second title of the year at theAcapulco Open, beatingAlizé Cornet in the final.
As the 30th seed, Pennetta received a bye in the first round of thePacific Life Open. She then defeated Kaia Kanepi in the second round, but was defeated by fellow ItalianFrancesca Schiavone in the third round. She also fell to defending championSerena Williams at theSony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne in the third round.[4] Pennetta then lost in the second round of theEstoril Open to Iveta Benešová. She defeatedOlga Savchuk in the first round of theInternazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome before losing to defending champion Jelena Janković in the second round. She then withdrew from her quarterfinal match against Medina Garrigues at theInternationaux de Strasbourg. At theFrench Open, Pennetta defeated eighth-seededVenus Williams in the third round, before losing toCarla Suárez Navarro in the fourth round.[4]
Pennetta lost in the first round of her first tournament ongrass at theOrdina Open, to Sania Mirza. She then defeatedJulia Vakulenko in the first round ofWimbledon, before losing to Ai Sugiyama in the second round.[4] She then played at theInternazionali di Palermo and lost to eventual champion Sara Errani in the semifinals. Pennetta then lost in the final of theEast West Bank Classic in Los Angeles to Dinara Safina. At the following tournament, theRogers Cup, she was defeated by a qualifier,Michelle Larcher de Brito, in the second round. She was then the part of theItalian Olympic team at theSummer Olympics in Beijing; however, lost to Kaia Kanepi in the first round.[4] Pennetta also reached the second round of thePilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven. At theUS Open, she defeatedStefanie Vögele in the first round,Peng Shuai and former world No. 3 Nadia Petrova in the second and the third round, and formerworld No. 1, Amélie Mauresmo, in the fourth round, before losing to Safina in the quarterfinals. It was Pennetta's best singles performance at a Grand Slam tournament then.[4]
Pennetta then reached the quarterfinals ofCommonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, losing to eventual runner-upTamira Paszek. At thePan Pacific Open in Tokyo, she lost in the quarterfinals to former world No. 1, Jelena Janković. Pennetta then lost toKateryna Bondarenko in the first round of thePorsche Grand Prix; to world No. 1 Janković in the quarterfinals of theKremlin Cup in Moscow; and to Venus Williams in the final of theZurich Open. At her last tournament of the year, theLinz Open, Pennetta defeatedÁgnes Szávay in the first round and Dominika Cibulková in the second round before losing to former world No. 1 and eventual champion, Ana Ivanovic, in the quarterfinals.[4]
Pennetta played her first tournament of the year at theHobart International (actually it was at the Hopman Cup), where she was the top seed. She defeated Shahar Pe'er in the first round and then fell toMagdaléna Rybáriková in the second round. Pennetta was the thirteenth seed at theAustralian Open, where she lost in the third round to Anabel Medina Garrigues. Pennetta then played forItaly's Fed Cup team in theFed CupWorld Group stage versusFrance. Italy won 5–0. Pennetta won both her singles matches over Amélie Mauresmo and Alizé Cornet.[4] At her first tournament of the year onclay, theCopa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas in Bogotá, Pennetta fell toMaša Zec Peškirič in the first round. She reached the final of theMexican Open for the sixth straight year but lost to Venus Williams in two sets.[4]Returning to hard courts at theMonterrey Open, Pennetta lost toBarbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the second round. She was the 15th seed at theBNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the firstPremier Mandatory event of the year, and lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Ana Ivanovic in a three-set match. Pennetta lost in the third round of theMiami Open in Key Biscayne, another Premier Mandatory event, to Mauresmo.[4]
Pennetta then played a series of clay-court events in preparation for the French Open. She lost to fellow Italian Roberta Vinci in the second round of theBarcelona Open. She then played two matches for Italy's Fed Cup team in theWorld Group semifinals versus reigning championRussia. She defeatedAnna Chakvetadze and lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova, but the final result was 4–1 in favor of Italy.[4] This will be the secondFed Cup final for Pennetta. The following week, she reached the semifinals of thePorsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart beating two top-ten players, Jelena Janković and Nadia Petrova, but fell toworld No. 1 player Dinara Safina, in three sets. At the Italian Open in Rome, aPremier-5 event, Pennetta lost in the third round to Kuznetsova, 0–6 in the third set. The following week, she was upset by Ágnes Szávay in the first round of the Madrid Open, the third Premier-Mandatory event of the year, losing in three sets. Pennetta, seeded 11th, lost in the first round of the 2009 French Open toAlexa Glatch. AtWimbledon, she advanced to the third round where she was ousted by the No. 17, Amélie Mauresmo, in straight sets. Pennetta then played on her home soil inPalermo, defeating Sara Errani in the final in two sets. She and partner Vinci advanced to the semifinals in doubles. On the hard courts ofLos Angeles, Pennetta upset Vera Zvonareva en route to the semifinals where she would be extended to three sets by Maria Sharapova. In her second consecutive final at the event, she defeated Samantha Stosur in two sets.[5] AtCincinnati, a Premier-5 event, she extended her winning streak to 15 matches, maintaining an impressive record against Venus Williams, whom she beat in two sets. By virtue of her defeat over Daniela Hantuchová in the quarterfinals, she rose into the top ten for the first time in her career, the first Italian woman ever to do so. Her run ended after a straight sets defeat against world No. 1, Dinara Safina, in the semifinals.
Pennetta was seeded 12th atToronto but lost toVirginie Razzano in the second round. At her next tournament atNew Haven, she lost in the semifinals to Caroline Wozniacki. Pennetta started theUS Open with a win overEdina Gallovits in two sets. In the second round, she double-bageled Sania Mirza 6–0, 6–0. She advanced to the fourth round after a straight-sets victory againstAleksandra Wozniak. She played Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round, and saved four match points at her serve at 5–6 in the second set; and then saved another two in the second set tie-break, before winning the final set to love.[6] She was defeated by Serena Williams in the quarterfinals in straight sets. After the US Open, Pennetta lost again to Roberta Vinci in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. At the China Open, she made the quarterfinal, losing to Zvonareva, 5–7 in the third set. As the top seed at Generali Ladies Linz tournament, Pennetta lost in the semifinals to third seedYanina Wickmayer in straight sets. In the following week, she was forced to retire at with a knee injury in the opening round.
Pennetta started her season at theAuckland Open as the No. 1 seed where she defeatedJill Craybas, Carla Suárez Navarro, Dominika Cibulková, and Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals. She lost to third seed Yanina Wickmayer. In theMedibank International, she notched up two top-20 wins over Sam Stosur and Li Na, before losing to unseeded Aravane Rezaï in the quarterfinals. At the first Grand Slam of the year, Pennetta was the 12th seed. In the opening round, she defeated former top-ten player Anna Chakvetadze, before falling in the second round to qualifier and world No. 16, Yanina Wickmayer. The loss was her third consecutive straight-set loss to Wickmayer. Pennetta was selected for Italy's first Fed Cup tie againstUkraine. She won both her singles matches in straight sets against the Bondarenko sisters to set up a 4–1 away victory in the tie. Pennetta received a wildcard into Open GDF Suez in Paris where she was the 2nd seed. After receiving a first-round bye she defeatedAlisa Kleybanova and Tathiana Garbin to reach the semifinals, where she fell in three sets to Lucie Šafářová.
At the Dubai Championships, Pennetta advanced to the third round, losing to seventh seed Agnieszka Radwańska. She was forced to withdraw from the Abierto Mexicano due to a hip injury. Pennetta suffered two early upset defeats at the two Premier events, Indian Wells Open and Miami Open. After receiving first-round byes, Pennetta lost in the third round of Indian Wells to Shahar Pe'er and in the second round of Miami toAndrea Petkovic. Despite her poor singles result in Miami, Pennetta was able to win the doubles title in Miami partnering with Gisela Dulko and defeating Sam Stosur and Nadia Petrova in the final. At theAndalucia Tennis Experience, Pennetta won her first title of the year advancing to the finals without dropping a set and defeating Carla Suárez Navarro in the final.
At theFrench Open, Pennetta was seeded 14th. She defeatedAnne Keothavong, Roberta Vinci, andPolona Hercog in the first three rounds. She was eliminated by third seed Caroline Wozniacki in the round of 16.[7] However, her performance moved her ranking back into the top 10, matching her career-high of world No. 10. This, in combination with countrywoman's Francesca Schiavone winning the French Open, meant that in the week of 7 June 2010, two Italian woman were in the top ten (Schiavone at world No. 6) at the same time for the first time. Pennetta was seeded 10th atWimbledon where she advanced to the third round and fell to Klára Zakopalová. She was seeded fifth at theSan Diego Open. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Sam Stosur before she fell to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Pennetta began her year at theSydney International, where in her first match she defeated qualifierLucie Hradecká. In the second round, Flavia went on to defeat world No. 2, Vera Zvonareva, in a tough match. She went on to lose toBojana Jovanovski in the quarterfinals.
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At theAustralian Open, Pennetta won her first-round match againstAnastasia Rodionova. In her second-round match, she defeated Lourdes Domínguez Lino before Pennetta came up victorious against Shahar Pe'er in a three-set battle, in which she rallied from deficits several times. She lost to Czech player Petra Kvitová in the fourth round. She did, however, capture her first career Grand Slam doubles title in thedoubles competition, again partnering with Dulko and beating Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko in the final.[8] In theFed Cup, she helped two-time reigning championItaly defeatAustralia with wins in two singles rubbers over Sam Stosur andJarmila Groth.[9]
At theDubai Championships, Pennetta was seeded 11th. In the first round, she defeated wildcardJelena Dokić. She advanced to the semifinal after defeating Zakopalová, Azarenka, andAlisa Kleybanova, respectively. However, there she was defeated by Svetlana Kuznetsova.[10]
As the 21st seed at theWimbledon Championships, Pennetta eased pastChanelle Scheepers in two sets before seeing off Evgeniya Rodina to reach to the third round. She then fell to Marion Bartoli in a close match with Bartoli edging the win in three sets.
On 28 February, Pennetta became the first Italian tennis player (male or female) to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
Pennetta was the 26th seed at theUS Open. She defeated Aravane Rezaï, Romina Oprandi, third seed Maria Sharapova,[11] and 13th seed Peng Shuai in straight sets, to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the third time, where she lost toAngelique Kerber.[citation needed]
Pennetta's next tournament was the Japan Open, where she was eliminated in the first round by Kaia Kanepi after a three-set match. AtBeijing, she made it to the semifinals, beating the defending champion and world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, in three sets, before losing to Agnieszka Radwańska, in straight sets.
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Pennetta retired againstZheng Jie in final ofAuckland.[12] At theAustralian Open, she lost toNina Bratchikova in round one. She then reached the second round atDoha andDubai, losing on both occasions toKateryna Bondarenko and Jelena Janković, respectively. Pennetta then reached the final atAcapulco, where she lost to Sara Errani.
During the North American hardcourt swing, Pennetta reached the third round atIndian Wells, losing to Agnieszka Radwańska. Then at theMiami Open, she lost to wildcardGarbiñe Muguruza in the third round. At theBarcelona Open, Pennetta, the fifth seed, lost to UkrainianYuliya Beygelzimer in the second round. Unseeded at theRome Masters, Pennetta reached the quarterfinals after defeating Maria Kirilenko,Sloane Stephens, andPetra Cetkovská. She then lost to Serena Williams. At theFrench Open, she reached the third round, where she lost to eventual quarterfinalist Angelique Kerber.
Pennetta kicked off the grass-court season with a second-round appearance at theRosmalen Open, losing toUrszula Radwańska. AtWimbledon, she fell toCamila Giorgi in round 1. At theOlympics, Pennetta defeatedSorana Cîrstea andTsvetana Pironkova before losing to Petra Kvitová in round 3. At theMontreal, Pennetta lost to Chanelle Scheepers in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. Pennetta did not play the US Open due to injury. On 27 August 2012, Pennetta underwent surgical cleaning of her rightwrist, performed by the doctor who has treatedRafael Nadal.[13]
| This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Flavia Pennetta" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Pennetta returned to competition at theCopa Colsanitas ranked 60th. She lost toLara Arruabarrena in the second round. The following week, she fell to Lourdes Domínguez Lino in the first round at theAbierto Mexicano where she was finalist the year before. She then lost to Francesca Schiavone in the first round atIndian Wells. At theMiami Open, Pennetta defeatedJohanna Larsson in round one before losing to world No. 1, Serena Williams.
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Pennetta lost in the first round atMadrid andRome to Kaia Kanepi and Sloane Stephens, respectively. The week before the French Open, Pennetta qualified for theInternationaux de Strasbourg and reached the semifinals where she lost to Lucie Hradecká. At theFrench Open, she lost toKirsten Flipkens in the first round. Pennetta had a breakthrough atWimbledon where she advanced to the fourth round for the first time in more than five years. She defeatedElena Baltacha in her opening match before receiving a walkover from Victoria Azarenka in the second round. She then went on to defeat Alizé Cornet in three sets before losing to Flipkens again. Pennetta then reached the semifinals atBåstad where she lost to Larsson.
During theUS Open Series, Pennetta fell in the first round at theSouthern California Open to Schiavone. At theRogers Cup in Toronto, she defeated Urszula Radwańska in the first round. She then lost to the 16th seed Ana Ivanovic. The following week inCincinnati, she lost to AmericanVarvara Lepchenko in the first round. Pennetta was ranked 83rd entering theUS Open and she reached her first Grand Slam singles semifinal, defeating higher-ranked opponents such as Errani, Kuznetsova, Halep and Vinci in early rounds before succumbing to world No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the semifinals.
In September, Pennetta reached the second round atTokyo after defeating Daniela Hantuchová. She then lost to Caroline Wozniacki. At theChina Open, she drew Ivanovic in the first round, and lost in straight sets. At theOsaka Open, she lost toVania King in the first round. Pairing withKristina Mladenovic, she won the doubles title, defeating Samantha Stosur andZhang Shuai in the final.
As the 28th seed Pennetta reached the quarterfinals atAustralian Open, having defeated Angelique Kerber in the fourth round. She lost to Li Na, who then went on to win the tournament.[14] Pennetta then suffered a shocking first round defeat toHsieh Su-wei inDoha. InDubai she reached main draw and then defeated Kaia Kanepi and 2nd seed Agnieszka Radwańska, before losing the match against Venus Williams in quarterfinals. Pennetta then won the biggest title of her career atIndian Wells where she defeated Radwańska to win the final. She had defeated top seed Li Na en route to the final.[15] At theMiami Open, Pennetta lost to Ana Ivanovic in the third round. The following week atMonterrey, as the top seed, she lost her opener toKimiko Date-Krumm.
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During the clay-court season, Pennetta reached the second round atStuttgart, where she lost to Jelena Janković. At theMutua Madrid Open, Pennetta fell in round one to Lucie Šafářová. Playing in front of her home crowd at theInternazionali BNL d'Italia, she reached the third round after defeatingYvonne Meusburger andBelinda Bencic. She subsequently lost to Janković again. AtRoland Garros, Pennetta lost to Johanna Larsson in the second round. She reached the second round atEastbourne where she lost to local girl Heather Watson. In doubles, she partnered with Martina Hingis and they reached the final, losing to the Chan sisters. AtWimbledon, Pennetta lost to AmericanLauren Davis in the second round.
Pennetta kicked off her US Open series campaign with a first round to KazakhYulia Putintseva atMontreal. The following week, she reached the third round atCincinnati where she lost to Serena Williams. Pennetta then reached her fifth US Open quarterfinal after defeatingCasey Dellacqua in the fourth round. She succumbed to Serena once again in the last eight despite having an early lead. In doubles, she partnered with Hingis and they reached the final, losing to Russian duoEkaterina Makarova andElena Vesnina in three sets.
In October, Pennetta was seeded 15th at theWuhan Open; she lost in the first round toJarmila Gajdošová in straight sets, but won the doubles tournament with Hingis. At theChina Open, she defeatedChristina McHale in the first round before succumbing to Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets. As the third seed inMoscow, Pennetta once again suffered an opening round loss to Camila Giorgi. She received a wildcard to play inSofia after the withdrawal of Janković. She turned things around by reaching the final, her second of 2014. In the round-robin stage she overcame Alizé Cornet andKarolína Plíšková in straight sets. She also suffered a loss to Garbiñe Muguruza, despite winning the first set 6–0. Accumulating a record of 2–1, she advanced to the semifinal for the first time since Indian Wells in March where she avenged her loss to Suarez Navarro, claiming the victory in straight sets. She ran out of steam in the final, falling toAndrea Petkovic in three sets, having won the first set 6–1.
The 2015 season started slowly for Pennetta. During theHopman Cup, she "bagelled" Serena Williams before ultimately losing the match. In theAustralian Open, she lost to compatriot Camila Giorgi in the first round, failing to defend her quarterfinalist points from 2014. In the Dubai Premier event she reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki. As the defending champion atIndian Wells, she managed to reach the quarterfinals, beatingMadison Brengle, Sam Stosur, and world No. 2, Maria Sharapova. She lost toSabine Lisicki in three thrilling sets despite having three match points. At theMiami Open she continued this run, by defeating former world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, before falling to Simona Halep in the round of 16 in straight sets in a high-class match despite leading 5–2 in the second set.[16]
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Pennetta had mixed results during the clay season. She made it to the quarterfinals inMarrakech, losing to eventual finalistTímea Babos in three sets. She suffered early exits at bothMadrid andRome to Andrea Petkovic andElina Svitolina, respectively. Pennetta equalled her best result at theFrench Open by reaching the fourth round. She beat Carla Suárez Navarro for her second top 10 win before losing to Garbiñe Muguruza in straight sets.
Pennetta went winless during the grass season. She lost inEastbourne to Svetlana Kuznetsova and atWimbledon toZarina Diyas.
InToronto, Pennetta lost in the second round to Serena Williams in three sets. This was the first time since 2008 that Pennetta had won a set against Williams in an official match. AtCincinnati, Pennetta beat former top-ten player Dominika Cibulková before losing to newly crowned Toronto champion Belinda Bencic in straight sets. InNew Haven, Pennetta lost in the first round to last year's finalist, Magdaléna Rybáriková, in three sets.
Pennetta then played at theUS Open as the 26th seed. She made it to the quarterfinals for the sixth time in the previous seven attempts by beating Jarmila Gajdošová, Monica Niculescu, Petra Cetkovská and2011 champion, Samantha Stosur. In the quarterfinals, she came up against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová. Pennetta won the match in three sets, after having trailed 1–3 in the second set, to advance to her second US Open semifinal. She then defeated second seed Simona Halep in straight sets to advance to her first Grand Slam final. Pennetta faced Roberta Vinci in the first-ever all-Italian Grand Slam final in the Open Era. Pennetta won the match in straight sets, claiming her first ever US Open title and her first Grand Slam title. During her acceptance speech she announced her retirement. In an interview with Eurosport after the match, Pennetta clarified that she would play out the rest of the season. By virtue of winning the US Open, Pennetta returned to the top 10 for the first time since September 2009. In the weeks following the US Open, she attained a new career-high ranking of No. 6.[17] She qualified for theWTA Finals in Singapore, where she was defeated in the round robin, losing against Halep and defeating Agnieszka Radwańska before going down to Maria Sharapova in the last professional singles match of her career.
Pennetta retired having won 28 career titles in total, including the US Open in singles and Australian Open and WTA Finals in doubles, reaching No. 6 in the world in singles and No. 1 in doubles, and winning the Fed Cup four times between 2006 and 2013.
Flavia Pennetta was born inBrindisi to Oronzo and Concetta Pennetta.[18] She has an older sister.[18] She was introduced to tennis at the age of five and has citedMonica Seles as her tennis idol.[4] Pennetta previously datedCarlos Moyá. The two split in 2007, and she wrote of the traumatic breakup in her memoirDritto al cuore (Straight to the Heart).[19]
Pennetta began dating compatriot ATP tennis playerFabio Fognini in early 2014.[20] Pennetta and Fognini became engaged in 2015, and the two were married inOstuni in June 2016.[21] Pennetta gave birth to a baby boy in 2017.[22] In 2019, their first daughter was born, and in 2021 she gave birth to a second daughter.[23]
Her cousin is tennis playerClaudia Giovine.[24]
Pennetta is a Catholic.
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 2015 | US Open | Hard | Roberta Vinci | 7–6(7–4), 6–2 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2005 | US Open | Hard |  Elena Dementieva |  Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur | 2–6, 7–5, 3–6 |
| Win | 2011 | Australian Open | Hard |  Gisela Dulko |  Victoria AzarenkaMaria Kirilenko | 2–6, 7–5, 6–1 |
| Loss | 2014 | US Open | Hard |  Martina Hingis | Ekaterina MakarovaElena Vesnina | 6–2, 3–6, 2–6 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | SR | W–L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 4R | 1R | A | QF | 1R | 0 / 12 | 13–12 | 52% |
| French Open | A | A | A | 3R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 4R | 1R | 4R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 4R | 0 / 13 | 18–13 | 58% |
| Wimbledon | Q2 | A | Q2 | 2R | 1R | 4R | 4R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 4R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 13 | 18–13 | 58% |
| US Open | A | A | Q1 | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 2R | QF | QF | 3R | QF | A | SF | QF | W | 1 / 11 | 31–10 | 76% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–4 | 0–4 | 5–4 | 7–3 | 1–4 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 2–3 | 7–3 | 10–4 | 10–3 | 1 / 49 | 80–48 | 63% |
| Tournament | 1999–02 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | SR | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | QF | 3R | QF | W | 3R | A | 2R | 3R | 1 / 12 | 24–11 |
| French Open | A | 1R | A | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 3R | QF | QF | 3R | 2R | 3R | QF | 0 / 12 | 19–12 |
| Wimbledon | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | SF | 1R | SF | 2R | 3R | QF | 0 / 13 | 19–13 |
| US Open | A | 1R | 3R | F | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | QF | 3R | A | 3R | F | SF | 0 / 11 | 24–11 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–4 | 3–3 | 7–4 | 5–3 | 4–4 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 13–4 | 11–3 | 8–3 | 4–3 | 10–4 | 12–4 | 1 / 48 | 86–47 |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | WTA Doubles Team of the Year (with Gisela Dulko)2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Serena Williams & Venus Williams | ITF Doubles World Champion (with Gisela Dulko)2010 | Succeeded by Katarina Srebotnik & Květa Peschke |
| Preceded by | Gazzetta dello Sport Sportswoman of the Year 2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Italian Sportswoman of the Year 2015 | Succeeded by Tania Cagnotto |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
