NEW YORK—Sweat streamed from her face as if fleeing from her forehead, while her red adidas dress clung to her stomach like a soggy swimsuit. Leaning her right hand on the blue back wall for support, Flavia Pennetta looked like a depleted long-distance runner holding herself upright while contemplating the queasiness of continuing the journey. Then she lurched forward and reflexively thrust her hand to her mouth as if trying to suppress breakfast from escaping her churning stomach and introducing itself to Louis Armstrong court.
On the stickiest day of this U.S. Open, Pennetta soon had more pressing concerns than an upset stomach and the onset of cramps.
Saturated by stress, the 26th-seeded Italian was dealing with disappointment of failing to convert a match point at 6-5, the physical demands of an ailing body and the deep drives Shuai Peng pounded into the corners. Peng had earned four set points in the tiebreaker and a third set seemed inevitable.
Pennetta fought off the first three chances, then delivered the shot of the day, launching herself airborne to crack a cross-court forehand that curled inside the sideline to level the breaker at 6-6, eliciting a piercing roar from the riveted crowd. Two points later, the 13th-seeded Peng pushed a drop volley into net and Pennetta, whose back was near the courtside clock when the volley was struck, pumped her fist in equal parts exhilaration and exhaustion.
In a physically punishing match that was filled with plenty of fight and that timely flight, Pennetta squeezed out a 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory, clawing her way into the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the third time in the past four years and glowing from the ovation the crowd showered on both women.
Don’t let the straight-sets scoreline fool you: this was a ferociously fought fourth-rounder that spanned two hours and 31 minutes between two women who crack the ball cleanly and refuse to back off the baseline willingly. Hitting with two hands off both wings, Peng is adept at absorbing the direct shot and changing direction in a single swing. Sitting behind her, you’d swear she’s jammed by a body blow, but she turns her shoulder so quickly—relying on her second hand for stability—that she can hammer the ball off her hip and find the inside-out angle.
A perplexed Pennetta sometimes looked like she had no clue where Peng’s shots were going. The 25-year-old Chinese trailed 2-5 just 35 minutes into the match, but began to find the sweet spot and roared back for 4-5, saving two set points and earning three break point chances to level the opening set. But Pennetta would not crack. A sharp-angled backhand volley set up a smash for her third set point. When Peng pushed a backhand long, Pennetta pumped her right fist, glanced at her back and exhaled audibly through gritted teeth.
The 29-year-old Pennetta will face 92nd-ranked Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals. Pennetta won their lone meeting, 6-2, 6-3, in Bastad on clay earlier this year, and if she can physically recover from today’s tempest, she will be a strong favorite to reach her first major semifinal.
—Richard Pagliaro