So that was the US Open women’s tournament that was. We’ve seen the demise of Serena’s tilt at the grand slam, the emergence of Johanna Konta, a renascent Victoria Azarenka, a tremendous run to the last eight from Venus Williams, and a wonderful sequence of quarter- and semi-finals, all of which went the distance. The final didn’t quite do justice to what went before, but with hindsight perhaps some degree of letdown was inevitable after the thrills and spills of Friday. Roberta Vinci earned a place in tennis history with her win over Serena, and Flavia Pennetta was a worthy champion. If that was indeed Pennetta’s last match - and already there are suggestions rippling through from Flushing Meadows that she will play out the remainder of the year - the oldest first-time winner of a major in the open era picked quite a way to bow out. Thanks for reading and goodbye.
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Incidentally, apologies for getting carried away in all the excitement. As a couple of you pointed out, I inadvertently deprived Francesca Schiavone of her French Open title after the final game. In fact, that extraordinary afternoon at Roland Garros in 2010 - when an Italian veteran of the WTA Tour, unfancied to feature at the business end of the tournament, made it through to the final Saturday and grabbed her shot at glory with both hands - offers some obvious parallels with what we’ve just seen. Pennetta didn’t quite scale the heights that Schiavone achieved against Sam Stosur that day, but then Vinci didn’t produce a level of tennis that required her to be at her absolute best. She just got the job done with quiet efficiency, much as she has done throughout her career.
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Well, who saw that coming? Roberta Vinci, perhaps? I guess we’ll know more once she gets into her post-match press conference. But you have to assume, on the basis of what she just said, that we may just have witnessed the last match of Flavia Pennetta’s career. If so, what a way to go.
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It’s the way all players would like to go out, she says, by taking a big trophy home. Rapturous applause from the crowd on Ashe. Matteo Renzi, the watching Italian prime minister, must be as astounded as everyone else. “I want to thank everyone who helped me throughout my career, all my coaches, my family - they couldn’t come, but I know they’re going to be really happy and proud of me ... thank you for everything, you gave me a lot of emotion and I love you guys”
Unbelievable! Flavia Pennetta has just announced her retirement!! “Before I started this tournament one month ago, I took a big decision in my life. This is the way I would like to say goodbye to tennis.”
“It’s a dream come true,” says Pennetta, “it was always my dream to win a grand slam.”
There’s a rare spectacle on Ashe as the two finalists sit chatting on adjacent chairs. Reminiscing about old times, perhaps? They did before their respective semi-finals, after all, recalling their French Open girls’ doubles win all those years ago. Whatever, it’s a beautiful sight.
You have to feel for Vinci. She showed flashes of the brilliance that carried her to victory over Serena, but was unable to find a similar level of consistency. Pennetta, on the other hand, came out with a clear plan, attacking her opponent’s backhand and staying patient throughout.
What a finish. Having struck the winning forehand, Flavia flung her racket high into the air, delight etched across her features, before heading to the net for a warm embrace with the woman she has know since they were kids growing up together in Puglia. It was a deserved win, too, Pennetta making eight fewer unforced errors - 22 to Vinci’s 30 - and hitting seven more winners.
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Flavia Pennetta wins the US Open 7-6 (7-4), 6-2!
Second set: Vinci* 6-7 (4-7), 2-6 Pennetta
It’s over! Vinci falls 0-40 behind in the blink of an eye, Pennetta fires a forehand winner, and there are tears and hugs all round as she becomes the oldest first-time slam winner of the open era.
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Second set: Vinci 6-7 (4-7), 2-5 Pennetta*
Serving at 40-30, Pennetta looks to be in real trouble as Vinci stretches her wide on the forehand with a venomous approach shot. Somehow, though, Pennetta flicks a half-volley over her countrywoman to win the point and move within a game of her first grand slam title. A final push and she’ll be over the line.
Second set: Vinci* 6-7 (4-7), 2-4 Pennetta
You’ve got to admire Vinci here. Some enterprising play carries her to a comfortable hold. The start of a fightback, or just a momentary spark from the dying embers?
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Second set: Vinci 6-7 (4-7), 1-4 Pennetta*
As the skies above Flushing Meadows darken, Vinci fires away an overhead to seal a break. It’s just reward for a much more aggressive game, and you sense that she’ll need to show a lot more of that if she is to turn this match around. So far, Vinci has probably hit the more eye-catching shots, but it’s no good dominating the highlights reel if you lose the match. Pennetta still looks the steadier player, but Vinci at least has a foothold in this second set now.
Second set: Vinci* 6-7 (4-7), 0-4 Pennetta
A horribly executed dropshot will have done nothing for Vinci’s confidence as she slumps to a double break. There’s a gesture of defiance from Vinci at 15-40 when she fires a belter of a forehand past her stranded opponent, but Pennetta responds by hammering a return at the Vinci backhand to sew up a 4-0 lead. Ouch.
Second set: Vinci 6-7 (4-7), 0-3 Pennetta*
There’s a lovely moment of improvisation from Vinci as a stabbed backhand pass, hit at full pelt, brings up 15-30 on the Pennetta serve. But the moments of magic are interspersed with some clumsy errors - she makes a real hash of a forehand on the next point - and Pennetta, who weathers a break point at 30-40, is outmaneuvering her tactically, physically and mentally right now. She underlines that point with a wonderful drop shot to seal the hold, and it’s already looking like a long way back for Vinci now.
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Second set: Vinci* 6-7 (4-7), 0-2 Pennetta
Oh dear. Despite some enterprising net play, Vinci is not only struggling to contain her opponent from the baseline, but also shooting herself in the foot with some poor shot-making. She makes a real hash of an attempted drop shot at 15-30, and follows up with another error to gift her compatriot an early break. She needs to stem the tide, or this match could quickly get away from her.
Second set: Vinci 6-7 (4-7), 0-1 Pennetta*
It’s a dream start to the second set for Pennetta as she seals a comfortable hold. Still, let’s not forget that Vinci lost the opening set against Serena, too.
Pennetta wins the first set 7-6 (7-4)!
First set: Vinci 6-7 (4-7) Pennetta* (*denotes server)
Tense stuff, but a clenched-first Pennetta quietly pounds her chest as she moves a set ahead after sewing up the tiebreak 7-4. It was touch and go, mind, Pennetta claiming the first mini-break to move ahead 4-2 only for Vinci to claw back the advantage. Pennetta re-established the edge after a long rally, and when Vinci drove a forehand long at 5-4, Pennetta needed no second invitation, serving out the set.
First set: Vinci 6-6 Pennetta* (*denotes server)
With the rallies lengthening by the game, you would expect Pennetta to be in her element. That she’s not is tribute to Vinci’s ability to play a brand of tennis that is about so much more than baseline slugging. One chip-and-charge routine is executed to perfection by Vinci. But it’s Pennetta who claims the game with a brilliant half-volley, and she seems far more willing to come forward now than she was at the beginning of the set. If she can combine those forays into the forecourt with her more reliable hitting off the ground, it could prove decisive. For now, though, we’re into a tiebreak.
First set: Vinci* 6-5 Pennetta (*denotes server)
After a predictably nervy start, things are really hotting up on Arthur Ashe stadium. Vinci has found greater venom on her serve, and is hitting through her forehand with far greater conviction. Her sliced backhand, meanwhile, driven low and true, is a thing of beauty. She needs all those components working, too, because Pennetta is playing much more aggressively on the return and is clearly determined to pepper her opponent’s one-handed backhand with high balls. It all makes for some compelling rallies, but Pennetta can get no nearer to the game than deuce as Vinci holds again.
First set: Vinci 5-5 Pennetta* (*denotes server)
Is Flavia equal to the challenge? You bet. She races to a 40-0 lead, but Vinci throws herself a lifeline in the game with some lovely shot-making that includes a crisp running forehand, bludgeoned down the line for a winner. Unruffled, Pennetta works her way into the net before using those doubles skills to pull Vinci way out of court with an exquisite angled volley. Test passed with flying colours.
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First set: Vinci* 5-4 Pennetta (*denotes server)
Vinci holds to 30 as a biting sliced backhand forces Pennetta into an area around her toes where no self-respecting two-hander wants to be. The result is a shanked backhand from Pennetta and a determined march back to the chair by Vinci, who sits with her towel over her head - just as she did against Serena - quietly contemplating her next move. She’s turned this set around magnificently. Pennetta faces a test of nerve in the next game.
First set: Vinci 4-4 Pennetta* (*denotes server)
A half-volley backhand from the baseline, a lovely whipped forehand down the line, and suddenly Vinci looks more like the player who beat Serena. It clearly unsettles Pennetta, who uncharacteristically double-faults at 40-30. She responds with her third ace of the match, but another unforced error draws Vinci level again, and a couple of points later Vinci comes up with a beautiful drop-shot-and-pass routine, pounding a cross-court backhand winner to set up her first break point of the match. This time Pennetta is unable to reply, netting a cheap backhand to leave us level again. Lovely stuff from Vinci.
First set: Vinci* 3-4 Pennetta (*denotes server)
So far, Vinci has played too conservatively, spinning her serves into play and failing to hit through her shots off the ground. It cost her a break in the previous game, and clearly she’s in no mood for a repeat. Vinci opens her shoulders from the opening point, and it reaps dividends in the form of a comfortable hold and some of her best play so far.
First set: Vinci 2-4 Pennetta* (*denotes server)
Pennetta consolidates the break with a love hold, showcasing her talents at 40-0 by following a lovely serve into the body with a drop shot that Vinci really ought to have made. Troubled times for Serena’s conqueror.
First set: Vinci* 2-3 Pennetta (*denotes server)
First blood goes to Pennetta courtesy of a series of backhand errors from Vinci, who suddenly looks surprisingly brittle. Serving at 15-30, Vinci sends a forehand approach long to cough up the first break points of the match. Pennetta nets a backhand on the first before firing a return long on the second. Flavia then finds Vinci’s single-handed backhand with a high, looping ball that she fails to control. Will that be a tactic here? It looks like it when Pennetta tries to put the ball in the same place on the next point only to drive it wide. Further break points come and go for Pennetta as Vinci struggles to find her range on the backhand, but a poor half volley gifts her compatriot another opportunity and this time she capitalises.
First set: Vinci 2-2 Pennetta* (*denotes server)
Interesting. Pennetta looks a shade less patient so far than she did against Halep on Friday, and her apparent anxiety to pull the trigger lands her in a spot of bother in this game as she is taken to deuce for the first time. But a short volley from Vinci on game point stands up invitingly, and Flavia is on to it in a flash, steering away a solid backhand pass. Still, there is discernible tension in some of her shots so far.
First set: Vinci* 2-1 Pennetta (*denotes server)
Another comfortable hold for Vinci, whose superior variety is already plain to see. For all Pennetta’s prowess as a doubles player, she is the more reluctant of the two to come forward on the singles court. Will Vinci’s willingness to follow the serve in occasionally rub off on her opponent? We’ll see.
First set: Vinci 1-1 Pennetta* (*denotes server)
Apparently unperturbed by the lack of pace coming her way, Pennetta quickly settles into her familiar baseline rhythm. A crisp backhand winner on the opening point puts her on the way to a comfortable hold, and coming out on top of a couple of long rallies should do her a power of good. She looks the more nervous of the two at this early stage.
First set: Vinci* 1-0 Pennetta (*denotes server)
Vinci makes a dream start, winning her opening service game to love as Pennetta drives a return long. She’s pretty much picked up from where she left off against Serena. That should settle the nerves nicely.
The players are out on court now. This promises to be a fascinating tussle. Pennetta, whose game hinges on metronomic consistency from the back - her backhand is the stronger wing - combined with fine athleticism and a lively temperament, leads the head-to-head 5-4. Then again, a couple of weeks ago Vinci - who plays a more artistic, multi-faceted game, and boasts one of only two one-handed backhands in the women’s top 50 - was playing the qualifying in New Haven, so everything from hereon in is a positive, right?
Ciara is out on Arthur Ashe treating the great and the good to a rousing rendition of God Bless America. That should get them warmed up nicely, although the Italian national anthem might have been a better choice. On Sunday, it’ll be Aloe Blacc’s turn.
In the meantime, what should we expect here? Well, nerves – and who controls them the better – could well have a major say in the outcome. It’s never easy playing a friend, and these two go way back. Born a year apart, they grew up about 40 miles away from each other in the Puglia region of southern Italy – the heel of the geographical boot – and frequently crossed rackets as juniors. In 1999, they teamed up at Roland Garros to win the girls’ doubles title, beating Kim Clijsters and Mia Buric in the final. They’ve since become veterans of the WTA Tour, Fed Cup team-mates and occasional doubles partners. So the emotional chemistry of this match will be fascinating. Let’s just hope that familiarity doesn’t breed frailty, as it did to such unfortunate effect when Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva – childhood friends who both played at the Spartak tennis club in north Moscow during their formative years – contested an all-Russian French Open final in 2004. With both players debilitated by tension, the match was a veritable carnival of the collywobbles, with Myskina weeping in the locker room beforehand and a devastated Dementieva later reduced to emotional rubble after crashing to an error-strewn 6-1, 6-2 defeat in less than an hour. At 23, they were both younger than today’s combatants, both of whom will be looking to bring their experience to bear. But let’s not forget that this is the first grand slam final either of them has played – it could quite conceivably be the only one either of them play – so neither will have an easy time managing their emotions. Vinci touched on this when she said on Friday: “It will be a tough match for both [of us]. I think a lot of pressure, but we have known each other for a long time. I played against her three or four years ago and I lost on the centre court. I remember that I was completely scared, like a little bit blocked. I didn’t play. So I hope that I will enjoy and play my game, and not be so stressed or tight because it’s a final.”
The players should be making their way in to Arthur Ashe stadium shortly. If the rain holds off, that is. There’s drizzle in the air at Flushing Meadows, so that’ll be something to keep an eye on. It’s also quite blustery, which could well favour the flatter shot-making of Pennetta. We shall see.
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The same goes for Pennetta, whose 6-1, 6-3 dismissal of Halep would have been one of the major talking points going into the final had her compatriot not upset the form book so dramatically. Dominant in the first set, Pennetta, the world No26, was arguably even more impressive in the second. As the Romanian came back at her, she refused to be rushed, retaining her poise and her patience as she bided her time in the rallies. Against Azarenka, whom she beat in a compelling quarter-final, Halep had looked excellent; against Pennetta, she was simply unable to find the answers. Like Vinci, Pennetta is in this final on merit.
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Inevitably, of course, the events of Friday afternoon will cast a shadow over this match. Few would have anticipated Pennetta’s thrilling defeat of the second seed Simona Halep, much less the fairytale display that propelled Vinci, the world No43, to victory over the defending champion Serena Williams in the second semi-final. Yet, amid the fallout from Vinci’s shock win over an opponent who stood just two matches away from the first calendar-year grand slam since Steffi Graf achieved a clean sweep of the four majors in 1988, the courage of the Italian’s performance and the sheer quality of the tennis she produced have perhaps been overlooked. Though understandable, the rush to place the magnitude of the upset in context – an impulse that ranged far beyond tennis, sparking far-flung comparisons with events like James “Buster” Douglas’s victory over Mike Tyson in 1990 and the England football team’s loss to the USA at the 1950 World Cup – has taken the focus off a remarkable achievement by Vinci, who was nothing short of magnificent. Let’s not forget that Serena wavered on several occasions en route to her brush with sporting immortality, losing sets against Elina Svitolina and Garbiñe Muguruza in Australia as well as to Anna-Lena Friedsam, Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens, Timea Bacsinszky and Lucie Safarova in Paris. At Wimbledon, she almost lost to Heather Watson before surviving another three-setter against Azarenka. And in New York both Bethanie Mattek-Sands and her sister Venus took the world No1 the distance. None of those players could get over the line; Vinci did. She may not have a huge serve or a massive forehand, but she showed the nous, technical and tactical variety, composure and nerve to beat Serena, however anxious the American may have been. Make no mistake, Vinci deserves her place in this final.
Ciao, ragazzi – come stai?
Now, I know what you’re thinking. You were hoping to see tennis history in the making, right? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci are about to contest the first ever all-Italian grand slam final. “Yes, yes,” I hear you say, “but I was expecting to see one of the most successful players of all time, a woman good enough to win a grand slam and hold the world No1 ranking.” So relax: Vinci has a career grand slam to her name in women’s doubles, putting her in an elite club of just 21 members, and both players have held the top ranking in doubles. Still not enough? Then consider this: whoever comes out on top in this battle of the thirtysomethings – at 33, Pennetta is the elder of the two by a year – will become the oldest first-time champion at a major since the open era began in 1968. See? All that, and we haven’t even mentioned the S-word yet.
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