By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, September 9, 2015
A persistent Flavia Pennetta snapped Petra Kvitova's eight-match winning streak with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win to reach the US Open semifinals for the second time in the last three years.
Photo credit: US Open/USTA
NEW YORK—Slumping in her seat, Petra Kvitova wrapped her hands around the ice towel draping her neck like a weary traveler embracing a long-lost friend after an arduous journey.
The fifth-seeded Czech tried to stay cool amid scorching conditions, but Flavia Pennetta made sure Kvitova's comfort zone was confined to changeovers.
A patient Pennetta combated Kvitova's power playing cleaner combinations. Pennetta beat the draining heat and a dangerous opponent, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to her second US Open semifinal in three years.
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For the first time in the Open Era, two Italian women—Pennetta and 32-year-old compatriot Roberta Vinci—have advanced to a Grand Slam final four.
Persistence was Pennetta's biggest weapon today.
She withstood 41 winners from the left-hander, self-doubt, a disappointing lapse to end the opening set and oppressive conditions by continuing to churn away from the baseline. The 2013 semifinalist commited just 16 unforced errors compared to 60 for Kvitova.
"I'm really happy right now. I was just trying to fight every ball, running and try to push the most I can," Pennetta told ESPN's Pam Shriver in her on-court interview afterward. "I'm really happy. I didn't think I would get through, I must say. Second set I was really in trouble, but I kept going and going. I'm really happy."
The No. 26-seeded Italian will take on second-seeded Simona Halep for a spot in Saturday's final. Halep defeated two-time finalist Victoria Azarenka, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in today's second quarterfinal.
One of the hottest US Opens in recent history has resembled a survival of the fittest and shrewdest. Three of the four semifinalists are over 30 years old and accomplished doubles players who can work the angles. The 33-year-old Pennetta joins defending champion Serena Williams, also 33, and Vinci in the final four.
Stepping on Ashe Stadium on a steamy day, the Italian started a busy day. After contesting her sixth US Open singles quarterfinal, Pennetta was scheduled to shift over to Louis Armstrong Stadium partnering Sara Errani in the doubles semifinal against the top-seeded team of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.
The two-time Wimbledon champion confronted issues of her own. Kvitova, who has battled both mononucleosis and asthma, played with wrapping around her right thigh, blinked straight into the high afternoon sun on one side and showed signs of wear and tear.
"From the beginning of the match I didn't feel 100 percent," Kvitova said. "I'm just glad I left everything I could (on the court) today. I suffered a lot, but I'm still here. That's good."
Kvitova navigated an eight-minute game, charging forward for a forehand volley on a crucial point, holding for 5-2. Ice towel draped around her neck to combat oppressive 90-degree heat, Kvitova refueled during the changeover.
Squinting into the sun as she served for the first set, Kvivota clanked her sixth double fault failing to convert set point. Two points later, he spun a second serve into the box and Pennetta pounced snapping off a two-handed return winner to break back for 4-5.
Pennetta was one point from leveling the set when she sprayed a double fault long at 40-0. That lapse was costly, igniting a run of four straight points from Kvitova, who wrenched control of the game with three heavy backhand returns. Staring down a second set point, Pennetta blinked hitting her third double fault to cap a 54-minute opening set on a decidedly down note.
Kvitova's second serve was vulnerable—she won only eight of 24 second-serve points—but the power player often imposed her shots in rallies more than doubling the winners Pennetta produced (18 to 7).
Fending off another break point, Kvitova came through another grueling eight-minute game holding to start the second set.
They traded breaks in the fourth and fifth game as Pennetta broke back at love for 2-3. By then, she had converted only three of 10 break points, but had extended the two-time Wimbledon champion in several service games and looked physically fresher.
"I think it's everything. It's not just the heat, (it's) the tension for the match, for what you think you have to be, for what you want to be, what you want to do, Pennetta said. "So many things in your mind. You just try to take out everything and just play tennis. I'm sorry for her. I think it's not a good feeling when you feel so tired and you cannot move really well. We played a really, really tough match more than two hours. She has to be proud of herself because she was playing to the last point."
Though she paced around the baseline between points, sometimes looking depleted trying to recover after long rallies, Kvitova was bringing her best when down break points. She fought off two more in the ninth game, but when she tried to slice the veteran wide on a third break point, Pennetta pounced with a jolting two-hand return down the line breaking for 5-4.
A bold forehand down the line gave her set point. Pennetta played her first drop shot of the day setting up a wide open expanse down the line, but Pennetta pushed her forehand rather than hitting it and shot strayed wide. Kvitova saved another set point with a crackling return. Pennetta fought off a pair of break points, including a backhand winner down the line. On her third set point, Pennette coaxed a forehand error, evening the match after one hour, 43 minutes.
Trying to manage her energy level, Kvitova continued her methodical pace between points. Kvitova was so successful moving forward—she won 20 of 26 net points —she would have been wise to do it more often, shorten the points and take charge of more rallies.
Instead, she was often dragged into longer baseline exchange with a more consistent adversary. Pennetta stuck a forehand off the baseline drawing a mishit error to break for 3-2. She backed up the break for 4-2 at the two hour, 14-minute mark.
When a lunging Kvitova wristed a forehand wide, Pennetta had hear second straight break for a 5-2 lead. On her second match point, Kvitova sprayed a backhand as Pennetta, looking too weary for an extended celebration, smiled after surviving a grinding two hour, 23-minute match.