Starting on December 7—the 25th day left in 2010—TENNIS.com will countdown from the year-end No. 25 on both tours with "The Last Word," a look back at the year that was and a look ahead at the season to come. Here's who we've looked at so far.
Best of 2010
The Italian saved her best for last. After Melanie Oudin upset Francesca Schiavone to keep the United States afloat in the Fed Cup final, Pennetta sunk the Americans, beating CoCo Vandeweghe 6-1, 6-2 in the final women’s match of the season. The win gave Italy its second consecutive Fed Cup and its third title in five years.
Worst of 2010
Pennetta climbed to No. 10—a career-high ranking—in time for Wimbledon, but was upset at the All England Club by No. 66 Klara Zakopalova in the third round. Maybe we should have seen it coming: Pennetta’s lone SW19 tune-up match was a straight-sets loss to Ekaterina Makarova in Eastbourne.
Year in Review
Pennetta demonstrated her skill on all surfaces this season. She reached a hard-court final in Auckland and had a commendable U.S. Open Series, posting a 10-4 record with wins over Maria Kirilenko, Vera Zvonareva and Sam Stosur. Her lone title of 2010 came on clay, in Marbella, and she reached another dirt final in Palermo. And while her singles showing at Wimbledon was unremarkable, she did reach the doubles semis with Gisela Dulko. The pair would end the year as the top women’s doubles team.
Coming off her best WTA season—she ended 2009 at No. 12 in singles—it’s hard to fault the 28-year-old vet. Pennetta was an integral part of Italy’s Fed Cup defense and reached three finals, just as she did a year ago. Ultimately though, the week-after-week results were too hard to replicate, which made Pennetta’s stay in the Top 10 a brief one. Winning Auckland or Palermo would have helped her cause, but hovering on the outskirts of the tennis elite is good work, if you can get it.
See for Yourself
Purely from a rankings perspective, Pennetta’s best victory came against then-No. 5 Stosur in the San Diego quarters. The French Open finalist hit some fine shots, as you’ll see, but Pennetta’s precise shot making was too much to handle:
The Last Word
It was another solid season for Pennetta, but she took a step back after finishing the last two years inside the Top 15. Too bad players don’t get ranking points for Fed Cup play—Pennetta was a perfect 6-0 in the competition.
—Brad Kallet