147 Facts About Flavia Pennetta

1.

Flavia Pennetta is an Italian former professional tennis player.

2.

Flavia Pennetta became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked world No 1 in doubles, on 28 February 2011.

3.

Flavia Pennetta is a major champion, having won the 2011 Australian Open women's doubles title with Gisela Dulko, and the 2015 US Open singles title over childhood friend Roberta Vinci in the first all-Italian major final.

4.

Flavia Pennetta was a mainstay in the Fed Cup team competition, helping Italy win four titles in 2006,2009,2010, and 2013.

5.

Flavia Pennetta was pronounced a Knight of Order of Merit of the Republic on 24 January 2007 by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, then President of Italy.

6.

Flavia Pennetta was introduced to tennis at the age of five by her father.

7.

Flavia Pennetta began to play on the ITF Women's Circuit in 1997.

8.

In 1999, Flavia Pennetta won two singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

9.

Flavia Pennetta was unsuccessful in her several attempts to qualify for WTA Tour main draws in 2000.

10.

Flavia Pennetta played her first WTA Tour main-draw match at the Cellular South Cup in 2002, when she lost in the first round.

11.

Flavia Pennetta lost in the first round in Palermo, but reached the second round of the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot.

12.

Flavia Pennetta's ranking reached the top 100 for the first time on 23 September 2002, when she reached No 100.

13.

In 2003, Flavia Pennetta lost in the semifinals of the Hyderabad Open to eventual champion Tamarine Tanasugarn.

14.

Flavia Pennetta reached the quarterfinals at the Canberra Women's Classic, Copa Colsanitas, and Abierto Mexicano Telcel.

15.

Flavia Pennetta debuted in the main draws of all four Grand Slam tournaments.

16.

Flavia Pennetta started the year at the Tier V Canberra Classic, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Julia Vakulenko.

17.

Flavia Pennetta then lost in the first round of both the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee and the Copa Colsanitas in Bogota, Colombia.

18.

Flavia Pennetta played both of the Tier I springtime hardcourt tournaments in the United States.

19.

Flavia Pennetta beat Ludmila Cervanova in the first round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells before losing to Maria Sharapova.

20.

Flavia Pennetta then lost in the first round of qualifying for the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne.

21.

At the Budapest Grand Prix, Flavia Pennetta lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Jelena Jankovic in straight sets.

22.

Flavia Pennetta then defeated world No 6, Nadia Petrova, in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome before falling to world No 21, Anna Smashnova, in the third round.

23.

At the French Open, Flavia Pennetta lost in the first round, once more to Smashnova in straight sets.

24.

Flavia Pennetta achieved the same result at the Ordina Open, falling to world No 85, Barbara Schett.

25.

At the Wismilak International in Bali, Flavia Pennetta lost in the second round to eventual quarterfinalist Gisela Dulko.

26.

Flavia Pennetta then fell to Maria Vento-Kabchi in the first round of the China Open in Beijing and to Tamarine Tanasugarn in the second round of the Guangzhou International Open.

27.

Flavia Pennetta then lost in the first rounds of the Australian Open and the Open Gaz de France.

28.

Flavia Pennetta lost in the first round of the Estoril Open and the third rounds of the Miami Masters and the French Open.

29.

Flavia Pennetta bounced back in the Wimbledon Championships by reaching the fourth round losing to Mary Pierce in straight sets and the semifinals of both the Internazionali di Modena and the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo which were held in Italy.

30.

Flavia Pennetta followed it up with losses to Japanese players Akiko Morigami in San Diego Classic and Aiko Nakamura in LA Championships.

31.

Flavia Pennetta lost early in the China Open in the first round and the Kremlin Cup in the second round to eventual champion Mary Pierce.

32.

Flavia Pennetta ended the year with quarterfinal appearances in the Wismilak International, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and the Zurich Open.

33.

Flavia Pennetta ended the year ranked No 23 in the world.

34.

Flavia Pennetta had a good start to the 2006 season, finishing runner-up at Gold Coast against Lucie Safarova.

35.

Flavia Pennetta started to pick up her pace as the season went on, with two runner-up showings at Bogota and Acapulco, losing to Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Anna-Lena Gronefeld, respectively.

36.

Flavia Pennetta begun 2007 with three first-round loses at Gold Coast, Hobart and the Australian Open, falling to Maria Kirilenko, Aiko Nakamura and Kaia Kanepi, respectively.

37.

Flavia Pennetta managed to take a win from Arantxa Parra Santonja at Estoril before getting overpowered by Gisela Dulko.

38.

At Barcelona, Flavia Pennetta made it to the semifinals, where she was beaten by Meghann Shaughnessy.

39.

Flavia Pennetta was eliminated in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships.

40.

Flavia Pennetta made it to the semifinals of Biella, falling to Agnieszka Radwanska.

41.

Flavia Pennetta started the year by losing in the second round of the Australian Hardcourts in Gold Coast to Dinara Safina.

42.

Flavia Pennetta then reached the semifinals of the Hobart International, where she lost to eventual champion Eleni Daniilidou.

43.

Flavia Pennetta then played for Italy's Fed Cup team versus Spain.

44.

Flavia Pennetta played one singles match versus Anabel Medina Garrigues and lost.

45.

Flavia Pennetta won her first title of the year at the Cachantun Cup in Vina del Mar, Chile, defeating Klara Zakopalova in the final.

46.

Flavia Pennetta then won her second title of the year at the Acapulco Open, beating Alize Cornet in the final.

47.

Flavia Pennetta then defeated Kaia Kanepi in the second round, but was defeated by fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone in the third round.

48.

Flavia Pennetta fell to defending champion Serena Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne in the third round.

49.

Flavia Pennetta then lost in the second round of the Estoril Open to Iveta Benesova.

50.

Flavia Pennetta defeated Olga Savchuk in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome before losing to defending champion Jelena Jankovic in the second round.

51.

Flavia Pennetta then withdrew from her quarterfinal match against Medina Garrigues at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

52.

At the French Open, Flavia Pennetta defeated eighth-seeded Venus Williams in the third round, before losing to Carla Suarez Navarro in the fourth round.

53.

Flavia Pennetta lost in the first round of her first tournament on grass at the Ordina Open, to Sania Mirza.

54.

Flavia Pennetta then defeated Julia Vakulenko in the first round of Wimbledon, before losing to Ai Sugiyama in the second round.

55.

Flavia Pennetta then played at the Internazionali di Palermo and lost to eventual champion Sara Errani in the semifinals.

56.

Flavia Pennetta then lost in the final of the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles to Dinara Safina.

57.

Flavia Pennetta was then the part of the Italian Olympic team at the Summer Olympics in Beijing; however, lost to Kaia Kanepi in the first round.

58.

Flavia Pennetta reached the second round of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven.

59.

Flavia Pennetta then reached the quarterfinals of Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, losing to eventual runner-up Tamira Paszek.

60.

Flavia Pennetta then lost to Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix; to world No 1 Jankovic in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow; and to Venus Williams in the final of the Zurich Open.

61.

At her last tournament of the year, the Linz Open, Flavia Pennetta defeated Agnes Szavay in the first round and Dominika Cibulkova in the second round before losing to former world No 1 and eventual champion, Ana Ivanovic, in the quarterfinals.

62.

Flavia Pennetta played her first tournament of the year at the Hobart International, where she was the top seed.

63.

Flavia Pennetta defeated Shahar Pe'er in the first round and then fell to Magdalena Rybarikova in the second round.

64.

Flavia Pennetta was the thirteenth seed at the Australian Open, where she lost in the third round to Anabel Medina Garrigues.

65.

Flavia Pennetta then played for Italy's Fed Cup team in the Fed Cup World Group stage versus France.

66.

Flavia Pennetta won both her singles matches over Amelie Mauresmo and Alize Cornet.

67.

At her first tournament of the year on clay, the Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas in Bogota, Flavia Pennetta fell to Masa Zec Peskiric in the first round.

68.

Flavia Pennetta reached the final of the Mexican Open for the sixth straight year but lost to Venus Williams in two sets.

69.

Flavia Pennetta was the 15th seed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the first Premier Mandatory event of the year, and lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Ana Ivanovic in a three-set match.

70.

Flavia Pennetta lost in the third round of the Miami Open in Key Biscayne, another Premier Mandatory event, to Mauresmo.

71.

Flavia Pennetta then played a series of clay-court events in preparation for the French Open.

72.

Flavia Pennetta lost to fellow Italian Roberta Vinci in the second round of the Barcelona Open.

73.

Flavia Pennetta then played two matches for Italy's Fed Cup team in the World Group semifinals versus reigning champion Russia.

74.

Flavia Pennetta, seeded 11th, lost in the first round of the 2009 French Open to Alexa Glatch.

75.

Flavia Pennetta then played on her home soil in Palermo, defeating Sara Errani in the final in two sets.

76.

Flavia Pennetta's run ended after a straight sets defeat against world No 1, Dinara Safina, in the semifinals.

77.

Flavia Pennetta was seeded 12th at Toronto but lost to Virginie Razzano in the second round.

78.

Flavia Pennetta started the US Open with a win over Edina Gallovits in two sets.

79.

Flavia Pennetta was defeated by Serena Williams in the quarterfinals in straight sets.

80.

Flavia Pennetta started her season at the Auckland Open as the No 1 seed where she defeated Jill Craybas, Carla Suarez Navarro, Dominika Cibulkova, and Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals.

81.

At the first Grand Slam of the year, Flavia Pennetta was the 12th seed.

82.

Flavia Pennetta was selected for Italy's first Fed Cup tie against Ukraine.

83.

Flavia Pennetta received a wildcard into Open GDF Suez in Paris where she was the 2nd seed.

84.

Flavia Pennetta was forced to withdraw from the Abierto Mexicano due to a hip injury.

85.

Flavia Pennetta suffered two early upset defeats at the two Premier events, Indian Wells Open and Miami Open.

86.

At the Andalucia Tennis Experience, Flavia Pennetta won her first title of the year advancing to the finals without dropping a set and defeating Carla Suarez Navarro in the final.

87.

Flavia Pennetta defeated Anne Keothavong, Roberta Vinci, and Polona Hercog in the first three rounds.

88.

Flavia Pennetta was eliminated by third seed Caroline Wozniacki in the round of 16.

89.

Flavia Pennetta was seeded 10th at Wimbledon where she advanced to the third round and fell to Klara Zakopalova.

90.

Flavia Pennetta was seeded fifth at the San Diego Open.

91.

Flavia Pennetta began her year at the Sydney International, where in her first match she defeated qualifier Lucie Hradecka.

92.

Flavia Pennetta went on to lose to Bojana Jovanovski in the quarterfinals.

93.

At the Australian Open, Flavia Pennetta won her first-round match against Anastasia Rodionova.

94.

Flavia Pennetta lost to Czech player Petra Kvitova in the fourth round.

95.

Flavia Pennetta did capture her first career Grand Slam doubles title in the doubles competition, again partnering with Dulko and beating Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko in the final.

96.

Flavia Pennetta then fell to Marion Bartoli in a close match with Bartoli edging the win in three sets.

97.

Flavia Pennetta defeated Aravane Rezai, Romina Oprandi, third seed Maria Sharapova, and 13th seed Peng Shuai in straight sets, to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the third time, where she lost to Angelique Kerber.

98.

Flavia Pennetta then reached the second round at Doha and Dubai, losing on both occasions to Kateryna Bondarenko and Jelena Jankovic, respectively.

99.

Flavia Pennetta then reached the final at Acapulco, where she lost to Sara Errani.

100.

Unseeded at the Rome Masters, Flavia Pennetta reached the quarterfinals after defeating Maria Kirilenko, Sloane Stephens, and Petra Cetkovska.

101.

Flavia Pennetta kicked off the grass-court season with a second-round appearance at the Rosmalen Open, losing to Urszula Radwanska.

102.

At the Olympics, Flavia Pennetta defeated Sorana Cirstea and Tsvetana Pironkova before losing to Petra Kvitova in round 3.

103.

At the Montreal, Flavia Pennetta lost to Chanelle Scheepers in the second round after receiving a first-round bye.

104.

On 27 August 2012, Flavia Pennetta underwent surgical cleaning of her right wrist, performed by the doctor who has treated Rafael Nadal.

105.

Flavia Pennetta returned to competition at the Copa Colsanitas ranked 60th.

106.

Flavia Pennetta lost to Lara Arruabarrena in the second round.

107.

Flavia Pennetta then lost to Francesca Schiavone in the first round at Indian Wells.

108.

At the Miami Open, Flavia Pennetta defeated Johanna Larsson in round one before losing to world No 1, Serena Williams.

109.

Flavia Pennetta lost in the first round at Madrid and Rome to Kaia Kanepi and Sloane Stephens, respectively.

110.

Flavia Pennetta had a breakthrough at Wimbledon where she advanced to the fourth round for the first time in more than five years.

111.

Flavia Pennetta defeated Elena Baltacha in her opening match before receiving a walkover from Victoria Azarenka in the second round.

112.

Flavia Pennetta then went on to defeat Alize Cornet in three sets before losing to Flipkens again.

113.

Flavia Pennetta then reached the semifinals at Bastad where she lost to Larsson.

114.

Flavia Pennetta then lost to the 16th seed Ana Ivanovic.

115.

Flavia Pennetta was ranked 83rd entering the US Open and she reached her first Grand Slam singles semifinal, defeating higher-ranked opponents such as Errani, Kuznetsova, Halep and Vinci in early rounds before succumbing to world No 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the semifinals.

116.

Flavia Pennetta lost to Li Na, who then went on to win the tournament.

117.

Flavia Pennetta then suffered a shocking first round defeat to Hsieh Su-wei in Doha.

118.

Flavia Pennetta then won the biggest title of her career at Indian Wells where she defeated Radwanska to win the final.

119.

Flavia Pennetta had defeated top seed Li Na en route to the final.

120.

At the Miami Open, Flavia Pennetta lost to Ana Ivanovic in the third round.

121.

At the Mutua Madrid Open, Flavia Pennetta fell in round one to Lucie Safarova.

122.

At Roland Garros, Flavia Pennetta lost to Johanna Larsson in the second round.

123.

Flavia Pennetta reached the second round at Eastbourne where she lost to local girl Heather Watson.

124.

At Wimbledon, Flavia Pennetta lost to American Lauren Davis in the second round.

125.

Flavia Pennetta kicked off her US Open series campaign with a first round to Kazakh Yulia Putintseva at Montreal.

126.

Flavia Pennetta then reached her fifth US Open quarterfinal after defeating Casey Dellacqua in the fourth round.

127.

Flavia Pennetta succumbed to Serena in the last eight despite having an early lead.

128.

Flavia Pennetta received a wildcard to play in Sofia after the withdrawal of Jankovic.

129.

Flavia Pennetta turned things around by reaching the final, her second of 2014.

130.

Flavia Pennetta lost to Sabine Lisicki in three thrilling sets despite having three match points.

131.

Flavia Pennetta made it to the quarterfinals in Marrakech, losing to eventual finalist Timea Babos in three sets.

132.

Flavia Pennetta suffered early exits at both Madrid and Rome to Andrea Petkovic and Elina Svitolina, respectively.

133.

Flavia Pennetta equalled her best result at the French Open by reaching the fourth round.

134.

Flavia Pennetta beat Carla Suarez Navarro for her second top 10 win before losing to Garbine Muguruza in straight sets.

135.

Flavia Pennetta lost in Eastbourne to Svetlana Kuznetsova and at Wimbledon to Zarina Diyas.

136.

In Toronto, Flavia Pennetta lost in the second round to Serena Williams in three sets.

137.

At Cincinnati, Flavia Pennetta beat former top-ten player Dominika Cibulkova before losing to newly crowned Toronto champion Belinda Bencic in straight sets.

138.

In New Haven, Flavia Pennetta lost in the first round to last year's finalist, Magdalena Rybarikova, in three sets.

139.

Flavia Pennetta then played at the US Open as the 26th seed.

140.

Flavia Pennetta made it to the quarterfinals for the sixth time in the previous seven attempts by beating Jarmila Gajdosova, Monica Niculescu, Petra Cetkovska and 2011 champion, Samantha Stosur.

141.

Flavia Pennetta then defeated second seed Simona Halep in straight sets to advance to her first Grand Slam final.

142.

Flavia Pennetta faced Roberta Vinci in the first-ever all-Italian Grand Slam final in the Open Era.

143.

Flavia Pennetta won the match in straight sets, claiming her first ever US Open title and her first Grand Slam title.

144.

Flavia Pennetta retired having won 28 career titles in total, including the US Open in singles and Australian Open and WTA Finals in doubles, reaching No 6 in the world in singles and No 1 in doubles, and winning the Fed Cup four times between 2006 and 2013.

145.

Flavia Pennetta was born in Brindisi to Oronzo and Concetta Pennetta.

146.

Flavia Pennetta was introduced to tennis at the age of five and has cited Monica Seles as her tennis idol.

147.

Flavia Pennetta began dating compatriot ATP tennis player Fabio Fognini in early 2014.