Well, I guess if we learned anything yesterday, it’s that there really is no such thing as a sure thing. First, No. 26 seed Flavia Pennetta dismantled second-seeded Simona Halep, 6-1, 6-3, to advance to her first career major final. Then, in a somewhat larger surprise, unseeded Roberta Vinci derailed the top seed and women’s No.1 Serena Williams, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, unceremoniously halting Williams’ heralded bid for the Grand Slam in reaching her first-ever second-Saturday showing at a Slam. So now, with the tennis world still abuzz from the startling events of Flabbergast Friday, Saturday’s women’s final brings together two first-timers, as the high-performing pair of Italian countrywomen square off in a surprise get-together for the 2015 US Open women’s title.
Although both Pennetta, 33, and Vinci, 32 each have claimed major titles in doubles – Vinci in fact owning a career Grand Slam playing in pairs – neither have ever before ventured into a Slam final alone. And though Saturday’s match represents new territory for each, both women played with a very real presence and poise in their respective semis that suggests that the meeting of first-timers might just be first-class.
This may be her first major final, but Pennetta is not unfamiliar with playing deep into the Flushing fortnight. Prior to this year, she’d reached the quarters here four times and the semis once. Outside of the Open, she’s only advanced as far as the quarters of a major once – that coming at the Australian Open in 2014. Indeed, Pennetta – now in the twilight of her career – has several times contemplated retirement, but has always used this event to help gauge her decision on whether to hang things up or hang on. Her solid results here each year have consistently kept her going, and now have her going deeper than she’s ever before been.
This is the 49th Grand Slam main draw in which Pennetta has competed, and there was little about her year leading in that would suggest that this would be the most memorable. Prior to this year’s Open, Pennetta’s best results of 2015 were three quarterfinal appearances – two of those on hard courts. But Pennetta has played from the start like a woman very much determined to better her best major showing, taking out 2011 US Open champ Samantha Stosur in the fourth round and two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova in the quarters before planting the second-seeded Halep with remarkable ease.
In that 59-minute clinic, Pennetta played like a woman paying for court time, dominating every aspect of the match. After trailing 3-1 in the second set, the Italian won 15 consecutive points and 19 of the final 21 to run away from an opponent 10 years her junior.
As impressive as Pennetta’s win was, Vinci’s win was all the more spectacular. No one – not even Vinci – expected that she had any measure of hope against Williams, the 21-time Grand Slam singles champion who was just two wins removed from a historic Grand Slam. In ousting the winner of the season’s first three Slams and halting Williams’ 33-match Grand Slam winning streak, Vinci not only outplayed the women’s No. 1, but she seemed more relaxed and more confident on court, hitting out and taking command of points while Williams played tentatively and struggled to find her form after taking the first set.
To watch that match, you’d think Vinci was the one with more major matches under her belt, but in fact, Vinci had been as far as the quarters of a major exactly twice – both times here – and had never taken a set off Williams in four career encounters. In 43 previous Grand Slam tournament main-draw appearances, Vinci had lost in the first round 23 times.
But Vinci simply out-steadied Williams, moving well, mixing up her shots and showcasing the potent and precise volleying skills that have made her such a force on the doubles court. She never got tight, even when the match did, and as a result, she posted the win of her life.
Although this is unfamiliar territory for both Vinci and Pennetta, they are very familiar opponents, having faced off against each other since they were teens. Pennetta owns a 5-4 edge in their professional head-to-head encounters, including one on the Challenger tour in 2003, and has beaten her countrywoman each time the two have met in a major – in the second round of the 2010 French Open and in the quarters here in 2013.
Their stats are remarkably similar coming into this final: Pennetta has won 68 percent of her first-serve points, Vinci 66 percent. Pennetta has won 50 service games and been broken 15 times; Vinci has held 45 times and lost serve 16 times. Pennetta has won 462 total points, Vinci 455. The No. 26 seed has been on court a total of 8 hours, 55 minutes; the unseeded Vinci, 9 hours, 25 minutes.
This final-round encounter between two very familiar foes figures as the very definition of “pick-‘em.” Neither have an overpowering serve, so there doesn’t figure to be a lot of free points. Pennetta is the steadier player off the ground; Vinci probably owns the more effective volley. Both move well and each is playing with a cool confidence that has allowed them to perform when the heat is on.
Granted, no one figured this would be the match that would wrap up the women’s half of the Flushing fortnight, but now that it’s arrived, this figures to be an entertaining encounter between two veteran talents, each of whom has raised her respective game – and popularity – on the Open’s great stage during the course f this event . It’s a tough call, but I think the No. 26 seed proves to be the tougher competitor. In three, Flavia Pennetta is the 2015 US Open women’s champion.
