Flavia Pennetta is one of the tennis players who could recently enter the Tennis Hall of Fame. The former Italian tennis player, champion of the US Open in 2015, gave an interview to UbiTennis in which he spoke about this nomination and also reviewed tennis news.
Pennetta is nominated along with other figures such as Ana Ivanovic, Juan Carlos Ferrero or whoever her partner was, the former tennis player and current Rafa Nadal coach, Carlos Moyà . “Ivanovic is, along with Serena, my black beast. I have played against her five games and I have lost all five. It makes me laugh to coincide with Moyà , he will be a tough opponent because he is still on the circuit with Rafa Nadal and it has a lot of visibility. And Ferrero worries me a little less. “
The Italian was also upset with the absence of a clear dominator on the WTA circuit and assures that, in her time, Emma Raducanu would not have already won her first Grand Slam. “I do not like women’s tennis today. What is happening, that strong discontinuity, I think it is not good for tennis. In my time it would never have happened that a girl from the previous one, like Emma Raducanu in New York, had won a Grand Slam. The great tennis players made a difference. Something is being done wrong. Charisma is lacking and thus women’s tennis is harder to sell. “
Pennetta believes that young tennis players still need to establish themselves further in the elite to be valued as stars. “Younger tennis players like Emma Raducani or Leylah Fernández still have things to prove to be confirmed in the elite. A Grand Slam champion cannot disappear into thin air. I was never among the great stars of tennis, but I lasted fifteen years at the highest level, and Francesca Schiavone, the same “.
Finally, Pennetta was asked about a hypothetical return to tennis as Kim Clijsters has done, something that she does not see possible. “I don’t see myself going back to tennis. I understand the urge to try again, but I no longer have the adrenaline or the mental strength to get back on the court. Also, I am about to give birth to my third child. And Roddick’s tweet made me laugh. ‘Pennetta must enter the Hall of Fame because she resists alongside her husband Fabio Fognini. That’s extraordinary! ‘”