Unseeded Flavia Pennetta defeated her compatriot, tenth-seeded Roberta Vinci, and advanced to the semifinals of the US Open. Pennetta stormed to the victory in just 65 minutes in straight sets 6-4 6-1.
In the beginning of the first set Penneta broke Vinci’s serve, but Vinci answered right away with a rebreak to even the score. Then three more breaks followed until Pennetta took a 5-4 lead and after some fight she managed to finish the set in 41 minutes. The second set was much shorter and ended in just 24 minutes. Pennetta played more aggressively and established a 4-0 lead, before Vinci managed to take the first and only game of the second set for 4-1. In the end the 83rd-ranked Pennetta finished the second set with an elegant lob over Vinci’s head and sealed the match.
Today Pennetta didn’t show any signs of the wrist injury that kept her from the court for a while and managed to secure victory which brought her into the US Open semifinals for the first time in her career. Her next opponent will be either Slovakian Daniela Hatuchova or Belarusian Victoria Azarenka. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
