The first-ever all-Italian Grand Slam final pitting No. 26 seed Flavia Pennetta against Roberta Vinci brought a crowd of famous faces, ranging from actress Queen Latifah to the prime minister of Italy, but it was Pennetta who brought her best tennis to the court.
Pennetta weathered a tight first set before storming through the latter stages of the match to defeat Vinci and win her first Grand Slam singles title, 7-6, 6-2.
Both players appeared nervous in the early stages of the match and struggled to find the range on their shots. Pennetta earned the first break of the match at 2-2 in the first set, converting on her sixth opportunity after Vinci hit a slice backhand into the net. But three games later, a backhand sent wide by Pennetta on her serve leveled the match at 4-4. In the first-set tiebreak, Vinci’s forehand began to betray her. A forehand into the net gave Pennetta a 5-3 lead, and another forehand sent long gave Pennetta a 6-4 advantage. The No. 26 seed fired an unplayable first serve on her first set point to take the opening set. Pennetta began to use her backhand up the line to great effect in the second set and hit numerous winners off that wing. Meanwhile, Vinci began to hit her slice backhand off her back foot and started moving further behind the baseline. Pennetta raced out to a 4-0 lead, and although Vinci was able to earn one of the breaks back, the deficit was too much to overcome. Pennetta easily served the match out on her first try, firing a forehand winner on her first match point and raising her arms in disbelief at winning her first Grand Slam singles title. During the on-court trophy ceremony, Pennetta then shocked the crowd by announcing that she is retiring from professional tennis after 15 years on tour, effective immediately.
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