Radwanska dumps top seed; Pennetta crashes out of WTA Finals
Flavia Pennetta’s brilliant late-career flourish was brought crashing to a halt by Maria Sharapova on Thursday as defeat by the Russian sent her out of the WTA Finals and into retirement.
The reigning US Open champion only needed to win a set against Sharapova to reach the semi-finals but after going a break up in the first set, she stuttered before losing 7-5, 6-1.
The colourful Pennetta, 33, announced her retirement last month, just moments after becoming the oldest first-time Grand Slam winner at the US Open in New York.
While tennis bids arrivederci to the Italian — apart from a possible appearance at next year’s Olympics — Sharapova marched into the semi-finals alongside Agnieszka Radwanska.
The resurgent Russian, who has roared back to form after months out with injury, paid tribute to Pennetta as the Italian walked without fanfare from the Singapore Indoor Stadium court.
“I’ve lost the last couple of times against Flavia,” Sharapova said. “I know what a tough opponent and competitor she is and I just tried to get a little bit of my revenge before she’s out of the game. It’s sad to see such a great champion go,” she said. “I’m so glad she got the Grand Slam.” Pennetta was in good company, as top seed Simona Halep’s season also came to an end when she lost 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 to an inspired Radwanska, who finishes runner-up to Sharapova in Red Group.
The Pole survived a “crazy” first set, when she went a break down and recovered from 1-5 down in the tie-break, finally taking the set after a mesmerising rally.
And the second set was a lopsided affair as Radwanska played with renewed confidence and world number two Halep’s energy and motivation fell off a cliff.
“I was done. No energy any more. 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,” the Romanian said afterwards.
The result was enough to guarantee Sharapova’s spot in the semi-finals but she was not about to give Pennetta an easy ride and mixed up her power game with an array of drop shots that left the Italian scrambling.
Pennetta broke Sharapova in the first game but the Russian took it back to level the match at 4-4 and stayed ahead till wrapping up the set at 7-5 with a drive-volley.
Pennetta’s head dropped and she was only to win one game in the second set, before a backhand to the net on the first match point ended her campaign and career on tour.
Sharapova, who had not completed a match since July when she arrived in Singapore, has now swept all three of her round-robin matches.
