Flavia Pennetta (born 25 February 1982 in Brindisi, Puglia) is an Italian professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top 10 female player on 17 August 2009. She is also ranked World No. 21 in doubles.Pennetta has won eight career WTA singles titles, including back-to-back titles in Bogotá and Acapulco in 2005. She and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Francesca Schiavone, and Roberta Vinci beat the Belgium team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin had to retire in the fifth and final match due to an injury in her right knee, which let Italy win their first Fed Cup trophy.
Pennetta has defeated former World No. 1s and multiple Grand Slam singles champions such as Justine Henin, Martina Hingis, Amélie Mauresmo, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and former World No. 1 Jelena Janković. Pennetta is also one of only seven women to beat Williams three consecutive times. In doubles, she reached the 2005 US Open final with her partner Elena Dementieva.
Pennetta was pronounced the Knight of Order of Merit of the Republic on 24 January 2007 by the President of Italy
Pennetta was introduced to tennis at the age 5 by her father. Aged 17, she won the 1999 French Open in girls' doubles with fellow Italian Roberta Vinci.
Pennetta began to play on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit in 1997.[1] The following year, she lost in the second round of her first qualifying tournament for a WTA Tour main draw, the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo. In 1999, Pennetta won two singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF circuit. She was unsuccessful in her several attempts to qualify for WTA Tour main draws in 2000. The following year, she limited her play to the ITF circuit.
She played her first main draw WTA Tour match at the 2002 Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee, where she lost in the first round. She also lost in the first round in Palermo but reached the second round of the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot.[1] Her ranking reached the Top 100 for the first time on 23 September 2002, when she reached World No. 100.
In 2003, Pennetta lost in the semifinals of the Hyderabad Indian Open to eventual champion Tamarine Tanasugarn. She also reached the quarterfinals at the Canberra Women's Classic, Copa Colsanitas, and Abierto Mexicano Telcel. She also debuted in the main draws of all four Grand Slam tournaments. Her best result was the third round of the French Open, where she defeated 21st-seeded Lisa Raymond in the second round before losing to Petra Mandula
