If you’re going to win one tournament, make it a good one: That might be the lesson Flavia Pennetta learned from her 2014 season. The 32-year-old Italian’s lone title was the Premier Mandatory event at Indian Wells in March. Not only did it earn her half of her roughly $2 million in prize money for the year, it kept her ranking afloat, even as the waters got choppy later in the season. The win seemed to surprise Pennetta as much as it did everyone else; after years of injury and inconsistency, she had been on the verge of hanging up her racquet for good the previous year.
Inconsistency returned in 2014, but Pennetta was more than a one-tournament wonder. You could say she saved her best for the biggest stages. She reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and US Open, and closed on an up note with a runner-up finish at the Tournament of Champions in Sofia, a season-ending event for the second tier. At this stage, Pennetta can probably live with that kind of result, and another season like 2014.