Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeats Flavia Pennetta in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia
To the dismay of the local crowd at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, Flavia Pennetta lost to the 38th ranked American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the opening round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Tuesday. The world
number 21 Pennetta hung in the contest for two hours and nine minutes before finally submitting the game to Mattek-Sands at 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, to end her voyage in Rome.
The 26-year-old American put up an amazing display of her tennis skills to qualify for the second round of the $2,050,000 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) clay-court tournament. Mattek-Sands finally took her revenge from the Italian,
who has stung two consecutive victories over her in the last two meetings. The American got defeated by Pennetta in her last meeting at the Fed Cup ties in 2010 but stood victorious this time round. Mattek-Sands registered her 14th
victory in the running WTA season to improve her all-time head-to-head record against Pennetta to 2-5.
The contest witnessed plenty of momentum swings throughout, with the American eventually coming out as the winner. Mattek-Sands took the opener with ease but failed to keep his momentum in the next set, losing to the Italian. She
regrouped in the decisive set and bagged victory to qualify for the second round of the tournament.
The Italian was led down by her error-ridden game, as she spilled out plenty of unforced errors, including eight expensive double faults in the contest. Mattek-Sands also conceded a number of mistakes in the second set but recovered
very well to end on the winning side.
The American was off to an aggressive start in the opening set but Pennetta gave her some tough time at the beginning. The Italian struck two serve breaks in the opener but had to suffer three break points from Mattek-Sands in
reply. The first set fell to the American’s name at 6-4 but Pennetta bounced back amazingly in the following set. She took full advantage of sloppy shots from Mattek-Sands and converted two of her five break opportunities to get hold of the game. Pennetta
eventually clinched the second set at 6-4 to level the contest at 1-1.
Tide turned in the final set once again, with Mattek-Sands standing tall this time. The Italian posed some serious resistance to her opponent by winning two break points in the third set but the American had the momentum she needed
to take the contest. Mattek-Sands cracked in three serve breaks before she finally closed out the match at 6-3. She will be facing the unseeded Australian, Jarmila Gajdosova in the next round at Rome. The Aussie was successful against the Italian wildcard,
Corinna Dentoni in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
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