She was World No. 6, has a unique WTA record and shockingly retired after winning her first Grand Slam

Retiring is never easy for an athlete. As greats such as Roger Federer and Serena Williams have put it, there’s no fairytale ending. However, Italian star Flavia Pennetta, who reached a career-high ranking of World No. 6, decided to retire when she was atop of the world: after winning her first and only Grand Slam title, which also broke a WTA record in the modern era.

Pennetta, who is from Brindisi, started playing tennis at age five. She quickly showcased potential and, as junior, won the French Open in doubles with compatriot Roberta Vinci, who would become one of her closest friends, doubles partner and rival in the WTA Tour.

Both players were part of an Italian golden generation which helped the country win four Fed Cup titles ( 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2013). And it was against Vinci that Pennetta won her 2015 US Open title, beating her in the first all-Italian major final. But, before her biggest triumph, she had built a strong career.

Pennetta’s achievements

During her career, Pennetta won 11 WTA singles titles, including the 2014 Indian Wells, in which she beat the two top seeds Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na on route to the trophy. In doubles, she was equally successful.

Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

In doubles, she won 17 titles, partnering with different players, including Martina Hingis, Gisela Dulko and Roberta Vinci. With Dulko, she also won the 2011 Australian Open title, as well as the 2010 WTA Finals. She also was the first Italian to be ranked World No. 1 in doubles.

Her US Open win and WTA record

In Grand Slams singles, Pennetta struggled to reach the final stages. She reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in 2014, but her best performances in majors always came at the US Open, where she reached the quarter-finals four times and one semifinal in 2013. But her time to shine came two years later.

In 2015, Pennetta, seeded 26, was able to defeat fifth seed Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep to reach her first major final in her 49th participation in a Grand Slam. Meanwhile, Vinci defeated Serena Williams in the semifinals, stopping her from achieving a calendar Grand Slam.

Flavia Pennetta celebrates her US Open triumph (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

In the final, Pennetta won a tight match in straight sets to become the oldest woman to win a debut major championship in the modern era (33). However, if her victory was impressive and made her return to the Top 10, what ended up shocking everyone was her victory speech.

“This is my last match at the U.S. Open, and I couldn’t think of a better way,” she said, announcing her retirement. “This was the perfect moment, I think. It was a really hard decision to make, but I’m really happy that I did it. I’m really happy and proud of myself.”

Flavia Pennetta and husband Fabio Fognini (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Retirement and life post-tennis

Later, Pennetta revealed she already had taken the decision before the tournament because she wasn’t feeling passionate about it anymore. “Sometimes I was 100 percent on court,” she recalled, “and sometimes I was, ‘OK, I have to play, I don’t want to go. I want to be another place,’” she said a year later, according to Tennis.com

After her retirement, she married ATP star Fabio Fognini and gave birth to a son in 2017. While she has dedicated herself to her family life, she has remained connected to tennis, and she has said that she is open to start coaching.