This historic championship run had finally reached the finish line, but Flavia Pennetta had one final sprint left in her.
Moments after Pennetta swept Melanie Oudin, 7-5, 6-2, to clinch Italy's second Fed Cup championship in the last four years and give the Italians their first Fed Cup championship on home soil, she chased teammate Francesca Schiavone around the court as the two Italian singles starters took turns spraying champagne at each other like giddy kids engaged in a water pistol fight on the last day of school.
The Italians had cause for celebration. Pennetta's victory gave Italy an unassailable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five match final on the red clay of the 5,400-seat "Rocco Polimeni", in Reggio Calabria today.
"The sensation is crazy," said Pennetta, who opened the final with a 6-3, 6-1 conquest of Alexa Glatch on Saturday. "I'm really happy and proud of everyone here."
Italian captain Corrado Barazzutti, a member of the lone Italian Davis Cup championship team as a player, embraced Pennetta with a heart-felt bear hug, concluding a season that saw Italy beat France and reigning champion Russia, which had won four of the last five Fed Cup championships.
"It's unbelievable. These girls write the history of Italian tennis," Barazzutti said. "They are the new history so it is something unbelievable. (It is) much better (winning at home) because it is the second time. For a country like Italy, we are not America, this is unbelievable. A dream is coming true."
As the players celebrated on the red clay, Italian legend Lea Pericoli watched with pride from the stands. Pericoli played in Italy’s first year of Fed Cup competition, in 1963. She played in 17 ties over nine years, posting an overall 15-15 win-loss record (8-8 in singles and 7-7 in doubles). Pericoli was Italy’s No. 1 nationally ranked champion from 1968 through 1971, and again 1973-1975.
The clay-court challenged Americans fought hard, but playing without World No. 1 Serena Williams, who pulled out days after committing to compete, an inexperienced U.S. squad did not manage to win a set in three singles matches. U.S. Open quarterfinalist Oudin took an early first-set lead and never stopped fighting, but could stall Pennetta, a superior clay-court player, who repeatedly found Oudin's weaker backhand wing on pivotal points.
At 4-3, Pennetta saved a break point with an ace out wide. She painted the baseline with a backhand that skidded off the baseline, eluding Oudin and leaving her swinging at air. Pennetta held for 5-3 when Oudin's return floated long.
Serving for the set at 5-4, Pennetta jumped out to a 30-0 lead and was two points from the set. But Oudin dug in her heels as U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez implored her to "make her work." Refusing to make a mistake she engaged Pennetta in lengthy rallies. This time it was the Italian's turn to tighten. Pennetta over-shot the mark on her backhand down the line and Oudin was back on serve at 5-all.
Oudin built a 30-15 lead in the 11th game but was over-ambitious on a pair of forehands. She flailed a forehand wide to hand Pennetta a break point. Bouncing right back, Oudin drove deep shots into Pennetta's backhand corner then abruptly changed directions crunching a forehand winner down the line.
She was back at deuce, but Oudin's hopes of holding were denied by the net. Her running forehand down the line smacked off the top of the net and fell wide, giving Pennetta a second break point. Oudin slapped a second serve off the top of the tape and her eyes dropped to the red clay when the ball bounded beyond the service box.
Serving for the set again, Pennetta was down 15-30, but again relied on the wide serve to bail her out, following that serve with a fine drop shot winner for 30-all. Oudin stepped into the courtto attack a second serve. Her forehand return missed the mark by several feet. Targeting the Oudin backhand again, Pennetta drew another return error to seal the set, 7-5.
Undeterred, Oudin mainted her intensity with a quick hold to open the second set. She earned double break point in the second game, but some well-placed serves from Pennetta bailed her out. She slammed an ace down the middle then kicked a serve wide on the ad side. Oudin is so eager to hit her favored forehand she tends to drift to the left of the center stripe to run around her backhand leaving her vulnerable to Pennetta's backhand down the line. A running backhand down the line enabled Pennetta to hold for 1-all.
In the third game, Oudin netted a backhand to face break point. Pushing her shorter opponent behind the baseline with a series of high-bounding backhands, Pennetta stepped forward in the court and blasted a backhand winner crosscourt for the break and a 2-1 lead. Pennetta consolidated with a convincing love hold for 3-1.
Oudin continued to talk to herself between points, imploring herself to keep fightning, but could not close the gap as Pennetta broke at 15 for 4-1. But Oudin was not done yet. She lined a backhand return that rattled off the back of the baseline, bounding away from Pennetta, to break back for 2-4. It was the last game Oudin would win.
Fittingly, a backhand down the line — the shot she victimized Oudin with for match of the match — gave Pennetta championship point.
The ensuing rally was the longest of the match. Pennetta pulled the string with a drop shot to lure Oudin forward then calmly guided a backhand down the line, tossed her Wilson racquet aside and dropped to her knees in triumph.
Italian teammates Francesca Schiavone, Sara Errani and Robera Vinci flooded onto the court and the four women embraced in a group hug, spinning around and around the red clay in a celebratory dance.
