The Foro Italico, which is home to Italian tennis, is nestled in a wooded area not far from the banks of the Tiber River, which meanders through the city. Alongside the Foro Italico, which was built by Benito Mussolini between 1928 and 1938, is the Olympic swimming pool and the whole neighbourhood is a nice refuge. Up the road there’s an ice cream shop that is to die for. It is a perfect setting for any sort of training facility that might just nurture future players on the international circuit.
The Campo Centrale is a wonderful arena with marble seating that is surrounded by giant statues depicting Ancient Rome that almost seem to be casting an eye over the court. During the tournament it’s excitable and oh so typically Italian. But I digress. I was making the point that it is a centre of training for budding players.
One of those players who came through the Italian system was Flavia Pennetta. Doesn’t her Christian name flow with a rhythm that only the Italian language can provide? She’s in her tenth year as a professional and at the age of 27 she has become the first Italian woman to break into the world’s top ten.
“I don’t know how it is being received in Italy but it’s very good for tennis in Italy,” Pennetta said who is the third seed this week here at Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick.
She picked up a tennis racquet at a very young age, around three or four. Her whole family played the sport so it was a natural progression, and from the sounds of it she had a very happy childhood down in the south of Italy in the beautiful port city of Brindisi. Pennetta, who idolized Monica Seles growing up, was about 14 when she really started to focus on her tennis. Sure it was a bit later than many others but her “family gave a normal life to us”.
“I think kids start too young (in tennis) these days,” Pennetta said.
Not long after the Italian Federation took her under their wing and she moved to Rome to the academy and was introduced to the Coliseum-like arena that is Foro Italico. She attended school between 8am and noon, was on the courts till 1:30 and then went through another practice session between 3pm and 7pm.
“It was tough to leave my family; I was so much with my parents so I was so sad to leave but Brindisi is only four hours drive from Rome,” she said.
By 16 she was playing the low level ITF events – she was lucky that Italy has an abundance of entry level tournaments – so the grounding she received in her own backyard was very valuable. Two years later she started on the Tour ... the big time.
That was nine years ago and this season has been the standout for her. She has already won two titles, Palermo and Los Angeles where she beat Petrova, Zvonareva, Sharapova and Stosur, was a finalist at Acapulco, reached semis at Bastad, Stuttgart (beat Jankovic) and Cincinnati (beat Venus Williams) and the quarters at s’Hertogenbosch.
“I hope to keep improving, it’s not easy but I am trying my best,” said Pennetta. “I am working hard and my forehand and serve have improved a lot.”
“Later in the year she will lead Italy in the final of the Fed Cup against the USA. This will be the third time in four years that Italy is in the final having won it in 2006 and she is “very excited for that chance.”
But more immediate is her focus on Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick and her first round match today against Romanian qualifier Ioana Raluca Olaru.
Meanwhile on Sunday night all the players enjoyed some down time at the Player’s Party that was held at Barcelona for the third straight year.
From the women’s tour Svetlana Kuznetsova, Marion Bartoli, Caroline Woznicacki, Flavia Pennetta and Agnieszka Radwanska were there while the men attending included Fernando Verdasco, Victor Hanescu, Nicolas Almagro, Andreas Beck, Igor Kunitsyn, Jurgen Melzer and Sam Querrey. Also in attendance were player coaches, family and ATP & WTA staff. All told, about 200 people joined in the fun.
Players enjoyed a menu of Tapas of chicken empanadas, beef empanadas, wild mushroom & goat cheese. There were salads, swordfish pintxo, salmon a la plancha and meat dishes like grilled leg of Lamb with taziki, chicken al pimientos, baked lasagna and more. It was an evening enjoyed by all!
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