Flavia Pennetta Gives Title-holder no Chance

Stuttgart. Flavia Pennetta caused the big surprise of the quarterfinals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The 27-year-old Italian was the third player to go through to the semifinals after defeating the world No. 4 and title-holder Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) in front of a 4,300 crowd in Stuttgart’s Porsche Arena. The exciting three setter ended 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 for Penetta who had previously eliminated the Russians Nadia Petrova, last year’s runner-up and 2006 winner, and Anna Chakvetadze en route to the quarters.

“I was nervous at the start and Jelena was playing very aggressively,” said the winner. “I was always on the defensive. In the second set I started attacking more and tried to put her under pressure with backhands down the line. The crowd’s support was amazing today and hopefully I can thank them tomorrow. I also hope I can get some more sleep tonight. Last night I was still wide awake at 3 o’clock and I had to ring my mum and sister to relax.”

In the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Flavia Pennetta will now face the winner of the quarterfinal between Dinara Safina (Russia), the number one in the WTA world rankings, and Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland).

01/05/2009