Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone won their matches against the USA in Reggio Calabria today, giving Italy a 2-0 lead in the 2009 Fed Cup final. Pennetta defeated Alexa Glatch 6-3, 6-1, and Schiavone defeated Melanie Oudin 7-6, 6-2.
I didn't see the match between Pennetta and Glatch, but I did see about 2/3 of the other match. Oudin--though she dropped a 4-2 lead--looked good in what I saw of the first set; my understanding is that she was rattled by a rain delay that occurred earlier. In the second set, she made too many unforced errors to have any real momentum, and her ability to move on a clay court is clearly a liability when playing someone like Schiavone.
Pennetta will play Oudin in the third rubber. Italy needs one more win to take the title.
I don't even know who Alexa Glatch is. Why is she playing for the USA here?
ReplyDeleteShe is playing because she is the reason the USA is in the final in the first place. Glatch won both of her rubbers against the Czech Republic, defeating both Kvitova and Benesova in the semifinals. Huber and Mattek-Sands won the doubles rubber, and the USA took the semifinal with a 3-2 win.
ReplyDeleteClay, however, is not very well suited to Glatch's game.