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Pennetta waves goodbye forever after she loses to Sharapova

October 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment
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Flavia Pennetta: in her last WTA match. Jimmie48 Tennis Photography.

SINGAPORE — Say goodbye Flavia Pennetta, who fell to Maria Sharapova 7-5 6-1.

With her 2015 U.S. Open trophy in her hands, Pennetta announced thus Woolf be her last season. If she had extended the match, she would have lived to play another day in the semifinals. But, Sharapova is a steamroller now and she denied Pennetta.

The 33-year-old Italian was very aggressive and forceful in the first set, but Sharapova kept going for her shots, moved forward and make sure that she wasn’t going to go side to side for a few hours.

After beating Radwanska on Sunday, Sharapova was thrilled. Since Wimbledon, she only had been able to play for half a match in Wuhan before she retired with an injury. Then she went to Europe to get her legs better and then she came over to Singapore early. She really wanted to get out on court and try it. She did not become injured again, could run as fast as she could, and could swing away with her powerful arms.

As Pennetta said, she played very well, but Sharapova was on fire, especially in the second set, wracking winners. Her huge serve, her massive forehands and backhands, and her ability to charge the net and not go backwards showed how confident she is.

“I was playing I think really well. I just has one game in the 4‑3 where I play a little bit worse,” Pennetta said. “I had two double fault, and so I lost my chance I think on that game. But I think was really good game. She play unbelievable. I didn’t remember see Maria playing so good and serving so good from ‑‑ the second set was perfect for her doing everything, drop shot, volley. Everything was work good for her.”

The last time they played, Pennetta out-stroked Sharapova at Indian Wells last March. That time, Pennetta was dictating once they got into rallies. But on Thursday, the five-time Grand Slam was under control

“It’s strange, I have to say,” Pennetta said. “Before the tournament I didn’t expect to see Maria so focus and so good and everything. Sometimes it’s good to stay away a little bit. You recover and you have more energy. You come with more ambition. So sometimes you need to stay away for a while. So for her, of course it’s working really good.”

Sharapova said wanted to be 100 percent before she got to Singapore, and she wanted to make sure that she is fully healthy. She did not want to have to stop again. She hit the gym and practiced when she could.

“So in a way, yeah, you’re taking a break, but you’re still working towards staying fit and strong and mentally positive,” Sharapova said. “You still have to work a lot. You don’t just sit around and hope that you feel better one day.”

Pennetta is retired now, but she doesn’t realize it yet. She says that she feels happy, but she didn’t want to stay on the court after she was done, as she didn’t want to cry. She will miss seeing week in and wake out, but she can deal with that, as she will be around here and there at the tournaments, watching her fiancee, Fabio Fognini.

“I will miss the competition. When you go on the court, the central court, it’s something special,” she said. “I don’t think I will have it anymore.”

Sharapova doesn’t know whom she will play on Saturday. The US Open champion Pennetta doesn’t know what she is going to do on Saturday either.

Maybe she will rest, for the first time when Pennetta became a pro in 2000. Maybe she will just bounce the balls around. Pennetta isnt sure yet, but she is already smiling.

“I am really happy to start a new part of life, new things.”

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Halep is all done for the year: Radwanska hung in there, made semis

October 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment
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Simona Halep is first to be eliminated in Singapore. Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

SINGAPORE – Simon Halep is now gone from the rest of the year and really, since she quickly lost against Flavia Pennetta in the US Open semis, she was mentally disturbed and couldn’t calm her frayed nerves .

On Thursday, Aga Radwanska took her down 7-6(5) 6-1. Halep was up 5-1 in the tiebreak, but the Pole kept running as at top speed. Somehow, someway, she got to 6-5. Both Radwanska and Halep went side to side, foreward and backward, under and over, way up high in the sky and touching their rackets well above their heads. Finally, Halep bent down, her legs were wobbly, and she tried to hit a forehand volley and went wide. Without a doubt, it was one of the best point of the year.

But Radwanska was revived and jubilent, while Halep folded quickly.

“I was done. No energy anymore,” Halep said. “I was tired. I felt that I lost the chance to win the first set and probably I lost the chance to win the match in that moment. My coach [Darren Cahill] was telling me many things, but I couldn’t hear because I was done and I was very nervous there.”

Later, the Pole could have hung her head, too. This week, she lost a brutal contest against Maria Sharapova on Sunday, and then lost a tough contest match against Pennetta on Tuesday, but when she went on court, she decided that she wasn’t going home yet. She would just swing away when she could and have a little bit of fun. Radwanska did, especially in the second set, when she was as aggressive as she can be.

But she was asked whether had she lost in the first set, would have she thought that it had been a long year, it was time to say good‑bye. She was leaving. See ya.

“You were just reading my mind actually,” she said. “That was it. I went on court, and to be honest I didn’t practice yesterday. I was really tired and I’m falling apart a little bit as well. So what I had yesterday, it’s half an hour in the gym, two sessions of treatment. What I wanted to do is really play my best tennis today. Like you’re saying, it’s been a really long trip and I lost already two matches. I think that works for me. I think I will have to take more of the day off,” she said with a smile.

Halep says that on Monday, she will announce that she and her coach, Cahill, will continue on next year.

The Romanian says that she has had a pretty good season, which she said there were “ups and down” with her higlight winning Indian Wells, and her low light being upset early at Roland Garros.

She is one of the fastest players on tour who runs and runs and runs, but not in Singapore this week. Her legs were pooped. “Today I couldn’t breathe anymore in the second set,” she said.

Radwanska made it to the semifinals and, depending on today’s outcome, she could face Garbine Muguruza, Petra Kvitova, or Angie Kerber on Saturday.

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Sharapova confounds Halep; Playing hard, Pennetta overcomes Aga

October 27, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Flavia Pennetta wants to stick around a little bit longer. Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Flavia Pennetta wants to stick around a little bit longer. Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

SINGAPORE – For reality checks, Flavia Pennetta isn’t ready to go home, and Maria Sharapova wants to beat her before she waves bye-bye.

Pennetta out-stroke Aga Radwanska 7-6 6-4, while Sharapova out-bashed Simona Halep 6-4 6-4. Pennetta is 1-1 in the Red Group Singapore, having lost to Halep on Sunday. Sharapova out-lasted Radwanska in three sets.

If Sharapova wins a set against Pennetta, then she will qualify for the semifinals. If she loses in straight sets, then who knows? In fact, no one really knows as Pennetta and Halep (who blitzed the Italian on Sunday) can have legitimate chances, and Radwanska also does, too. Ping-Pong.

The soon-to-be-retired Pennetta isn’t just happy to be here. Before she came out, many of the people in the stands were unsure. She has finally won a Slam andis going home in Italy very soon. So, all she had to do is play hard and don’t worry about the score. Uh-uh.

Against Radwanska, Pennetta pushed herself extremely hard. She served big, attacked the net when she could and went toe-to-toe from inside the baseline. When Pennetta missed a few bad shots, she grew angry. Guess what? When she went on court, she forgot this is her last tournament.

“I’m not thinking like this,” she said. “I don’t have this way to think. I don’t go in the court and think, ‘Oh, it’s going to be maybe my last one or I have tomorrow,’ I have three more. I just go to the court and say, ‘Okay, I have to play.’ That’s it. I don’t know how it’s happen, but it’s like this.”

Everyone talks about how smart Radwanska is, and that is very true, but Pennetta knows where she is going and that she can go for her shots when the lines are barking at her. Her forehand and first serve give the Pole a lot of trouble, and when they were contesting long rallies, Pennetta would hit behind her, or nail huge shots right down the middle. She has matured a great deal.

The same goes with Sharapova, who faced No. 2 Halep. She cannot allow Halep to go inside the court. Whether she was serving or returning with authority, Sharapova was the dictator. Halep is faster and would prefer to run around side-to-side, but there is no way that she can yank her around all night long when the Russian/American wouldn’t be able to hammer the corners.

That is why Sharapova is now 6-0 head-to-head against Halep: she consistently bothers her because she doesn’t allow her to grind every point. Halep can certainly grind on occasion, but she can’t handle her forehand side and she doesn’t push Sharapova back enough. Maybe the Romanian will do so again if they happen to a face off on Sunday, but right now, she is confounded by her.

Sharapova and Pennetta have played each other five times before, all three-set matches. Pennetta bested her at 2015 Indian Wells. She loves at the tournament, especially when she won her first big title there in 2014. Pennetta was a 31-year-old then, and while she has been very good at times over the past decade or so, few sensed that she was getting better and better.

At the 2015 US Open, she finally put it all together and won the crown. As Sharapova said, she was a little surprised that she won, but she truly deserved it. They will clash again on Thursday. Without a doubt, they respect each other, but both of them want to win badly.

“It is [a little surprising], but I feel like there is always a moment for people to shine,” Sharapova said. “I know there are players that are extremely consistent that are at the top of the game, and I’ve been playing for many years and been fortunate to win Grand Slams. But I work hard and I don’t just sit there and say I’m only player that does it. There are hundreds of players that probably work harder than I do and commit more time than I do and sometimes don’t get the results. I realize how fortunate I am.

“I know that Flavia has been through a lot in her career with surgeries, injuries, work and effort coming back, stopping. A lot people don’t talk about that, but I think you should. That matters. I think that when you go through those moments, eventually it pays off. That was her time to shine, and I was really, really happy.”

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Halep always gets nervous, but this time on fire to beat Pennetta

October 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment
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Simona Halep dominated Flavia Pennetta at the 2015 WTA Finals. Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

SINGAPORE – Simona Halep gets nervous – a lot. She also becomes very, very good when she is in a right space.

On Sunday, the opening day at Singapore, she walloped Flavia Pennetta 6-0 6-3.

What a turnaround, as not even two months ago, the Italian whipped the Romanian 6-1 6-3 in the semis of the US Open. Pennetta played fantastic, but Halep wasn’t really there.

This time, she came up firing and she was swirling around the court. Halep jumped on her balls early, she crushed her fabulous backhand down the line, she rolled her forehand and slugged her serves. Pennetta tried hard enough in the second set, but she couldn’t handle her range. Halep knew exactly when to attack and when she knew to back off. This time, she was full of confidence.

Here is the rub though: Halep has looked very shaky at the Grand Slams this year. She reached the quarterfinal of the Aussie Open and then admittedly became scared against Ekaterina Makarova and lost. In Roland Garros and Wimbledon, she went down hard and very early.

But at the US Open, once she reached the second week, she was vicious on court and she wouldn’t give up. She took down Vika Azarenka 6-4 in the third set in the quarters, perhaps their most exciting match of the year. But then when she came on court against Pennetta, her face looked glaced. She wasn’t in the match at all.

“I can say I was a little bit tired,” Halep said in Flushing Meadow. “Also nerves. Was first semifinals of US Open. I beat Flavia before in Miami and I knew that she can play good tennis. I knew that she’s very solid. Maybe that day that we had between the quarterfinals and the day when we played I think wasn’t too good for me. I was very tired after Azarenka match, and then I was like without energy Friday when we played. I just want to take the positive things from that match. I have learned about how to manage the situation when you play semifinals, and I hope to have many more and to pass that bad feeling.”

Why she was nervous was pretty bizarre. In 2014, the world met her for the first time; she reached the final at Roland Garros and she nearly upset Maria Sharapova in three sets. After that, Halep kept climbing up to the top charts, but on the majors, she was completely unpredictable.

Fortunate for her, at the last huge event, she reached the final at the WTA Finals in 2014. She stunned Serena Williams in the round robin, and they faced off again in the final. Williams won, but Halep wasn’t awful

Maybe she can reach the final again. And this time, she won’t be too nervous. However, that’s debatable.

“I need to do final for every Grand Slam, then I will be okay,” she said with a smile. “Every tournament is different. Every tournament I have nerves. Every match I have nerves. For me, it’s normal. But I have just to learn how to manage them. In every match I have different nerves, so it’s tough to explain. It’s just about my inside.”

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