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Sunday, September 4, 2011
In the longest two-set match of the women's singles event, No. 26 Flavia Pennetta backed up her upset win over No. 3 Maria Sharapova by reaching the quarterfinals at the US Open for the third time in the last four years, beating No. 13 Shuai Peng 6-4, 7-6 in two-and-a-half hours.
"I just believed all the time and was trying to play hard on every point," said Pennetta. "It was working pretty good today."
Pennetta attempted to avoid engaging in long rallies with Peng in the beginning of the match, using a high first-service percentage to win 65 percent of the points that went three shots or less. The Italian went up 5-2, but lost her serve at love and then found herself down three break points in her second attempt to close out the set at 5-4. The veteran Pennetta saved her best tennis of the set for the final points of it, hitting two aces and a winning forehand to erase Peng's chances of leveling the match at 5-5. Moments later, a forehand sent long by Peng on the Pennetta's third set point wrapped up the set.
The second set opened with four consecutive breaks of serve before the Chinese player clocked a forehand winner at 2-2 for the first service hold in the set. Pennetta threw in a double fault to give Peng a chance to serve for the set at 5-3, but nerves got the better of her. Falling back on her usually penetrating groundstrokes, Pennetta took advantage of her opponent's hesitance by attacking her own returns more frequently and ultimately leveling the match at 5-5
A lengthy eight-deuce game was finally won by Pennetta on her fourth break-point opportunity, and she earned a match point on her own serve at 6-5. However, an attempt at a backhand winner just missed the line and two points later, another backhand error that clipped the top of the tape fittingly sent the set into a tiebreaker.
A return of serve winner by Peng gave her an early mini-break at 2-0, and it was Pennetta who collapsed in an uncharacteristic heap of unforced errors, giving the No. 13 seed four set points at 6-2
Pennetta is known for her infamous comebacks at the US Open, most recently fighting off six match points to win against Vera Zvonareva at the 2009 US Open. She was on her way to doing the same here once again, with a pair of service winners bringing the score down to 6-5. On Peng's fourth set point, a tentatively hit overhead from her allowed Pennetta time to track down the ball and lace a forehand passing shot, leveling the match at 6-6 and earning a standing ovation from the crowd. Two points later, a drop volley attempt by Peng found the net and Pennetta moved into the quarterfinals.
"I feel more comfortable here and just enjoy all the time when I'm in New York," Pennetta said. "The center court is amazing and the people here are really nice with me all the time, so it's nice to have the support of the crowd."
Competing in her 35th main draw a a Grand Slam, Pennetta will now have a huge chance to reach the semifinals at a major for the first time in her career when she plays unseeded Angelique Kerber of Germany. The ironwoman is also still alive in the doubles event with Gisela Dulko, with the pair scheduled to play their third-round match tomorrow.
"It's much better than the last times (in the quarterfinals of the US Open) because I played Serena (Williams) when she was No. 2 in the world and (Dinara) Safina was No. 1," Pennetta said. "She's in the quarterfinals though and you are there because you beat a lot of really good players, so it's gonna be tough for me and for her."
"I just believed all the time and was trying to play hard on every point," said Pennetta. "It was working pretty good today."
Pennetta attempted to avoid engaging in long rallies with Peng in the beginning of the match, using a high first-service percentage to win 65 percent of the points that went three shots or less. The Italian went up 5-2, but lost her serve at love and then found herself down three break points in her second attempt to close out the set at 5-4. The veteran Pennetta saved her best tennis of the set for the final points of it, hitting two aces and a winning forehand to erase Peng's chances of leveling the match at 5-5. Moments later, a forehand sent long by Peng on the Pennetta's third set point wrapped up the set.
The second set opened with four consecutive breaks of serve before the Chinese player clocked a forehand winner at 2-2 for the first service hold in the set. Pennetta threw in a double fault to give Peng a chance to serve for the set at 5-3, but nerves got the better of her. Falling back on her usually penetrating groundstrokes, Pennetta took advantage of her opponent's hesitance by attacking her own returns more frequently and ultimately leveling the match at 5-5
A lengthy eight-deuce game was finally won by Pennetta on her fourth break-point opportunity, and she earned a match point on her own serve at 6-5. However, an attempt at a backhand winner just missed the line and two points later, another backhand error that clipped the top of the tape fittingly sent the set into a tiebreaker.
A return of serve winner by Peng gave her an early mini-break at 2-0, and it was Pennetta who collapsed in an uncharacteristic heap of unforced errors, giving the No. 13 seed four set points at 6-2
Pennetta is known for her infamous comebacks at the US Open, most recently fighting off six match points to win against Vera Zvonareva at the 2009 US Open. She was on her way to doing the same here once again, with a pair of service winners bringing the score down to 6-5. On Peng's fourth set point, a tentatively hit overhead from her allowed Pennetta time to track down the ball and lace a forehand passing shot, leveling the match at 6-6 and earning a standing ovation from the crowd. Two points later, a drop volley attempt by Peng found the net and Pennetta moved into the quarterfinals.
"I feel more comfortable here and just enjoy all the time when I'm in New York," Pennetta said. "The center court is amazing and the people here are really nice with me all the time, so it's nice to have the support of the crowd."
Competing in her 35th main draw a a Grand Slam, Pennetta will now have a huge chance to reach the semifinals at a major for the first time in her career when she plays unseeded Angelique Kerber of Germany. The ironwoman is also still alive in the doubles event with Gisela Dulko, with the pair scheduled to play their third-round match tomorrow.
"It's much better than the last times (in the quarterfinals of the US Open) because I played Serena (Williams) when she was No. 2 in the world and (Dinara) Safina was No. 1," Pennetta said. "She's in the quarterfinals though and you are there because you beat a lot of really good players, so it's gonna be tough for me and for her."
Match Facts
- Peng hits 25 winners to 33 unforced errors- Pennetta hit 41 winners to 34 unforced errors
- Pennetta is looking to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career
- Peng was looking to become only the second Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals at the US Open (the other being Na Li in 2009)
- Pennetta won 98 points in the match while Peng won 95
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