Flava Pennetta sad to see U go

One of my favorite player Flavia Pennetta retired from of the world of Tennis today.

SINGAPORE - For Maria Sharapova, Thursday's victory meant she'll live to fight another day at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. But for Flavia Pennetta, the defeat meant she won't be moving on to the semifinals - and that her long, illustrious career has come to an end.

For after winning her first Grand Slam title at the US Open last month, Pennetta announced she would be retiring from professional tennis at the end of the season - and this was her last tournament.

**Here's some of the many highlights from Pennetta's illustrious career.

- She played the first tournaments of her career on the ITF Women's Circuit in Italy in 1997 (and at her very first tournament, in Galatina, she played doubles with Vinci)
- She turned pro on her 18th birthday on February 25, 2000
- She won 11 WTA titles (Sopot in 2004, Bogotá & Acapulco in 2005, Bangkok in 2007, Viña del Mar & Acapulco in 2008, Palermo & LA in 2009, Marbella in 2010, Indian Wells in 2014, US Open in 2015)
- She became the first Italian woman to break the Top 10 on August 17, 2009 (after a 15-match winning streak that brought her titles at Palermo and LA and took her to the semifinals of Cincinnati)
- She also won 17 WTA doubles titles (the two biggest being the WTA Finals in 2010 and Australian Open in 2011, both with Dulko) and rose to No.1 in doubles on February 28, 2011 (becoming the first Italian player, male or female, to reach No.1 in either discipline in tennis, singles or doubles)
- She pulled off a rare singles-doubles feat on Friday, October 7, 2011, beating Wozniacki in singles and Huber/Raymond in doubles - at the time, Wozniacki was No.1 in singles and Huber was No.1 in doubles, making Pennetta just the second player ever to beat both singles and doubles No.1s on the same day (Graf was the only other woman to achieve the feat on Monday, May 19, 1986 in Berlin)
- She reached the quarterfinals seven times at Grand Slams, six times at the US Open (Won in 2015, SFs in 2013, QFs in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2014) and once at the Australian Open (QFs in 2014)
By winning the 2015 US Open, she became the oldest first-time Grand Slam champion in the Open Era (at 33 years and 6 months - no one else even won their first Grand Slam title in their 30s), she had the longest wait for a first Grand Slam title in the Open Era (it was her 49th Grand Slam main draw) and she was also just the second Italian woman to win a Grand Slam title (after Schiavone)
The WTA Finals in Singapore in 2015 was the last tournament of Pennetta's career