In one of the unlikeliest major finals in women's tennis history, Pennetta beat Vinci 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the US Open final at Flushing Meadows yesterday, then revealed during the trophy ceremony that she is ready to hang up her racquet.
"This is how I say goodbye to tennis," Pennetta said as her fiance, tennis player Fabio Fognini, captured the scene with his cellphone camera.
"I couldn't think to finish in a better way."
Later, Pennetta clarified that she plans to enter two tournaments in China over the next month, and the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore, if she qualifies. But she definitely won't be back at the US Open.
"Why? Because sometimes it's getting hard for me to compete ... If you don't fight every week in the same way I did today, it's going to be, like bad ... And I don't have ... this power any more, sometimes," Pennetta explained. "I mean, with this - winning today - my life is perfect."
She is the oldest woman in the Open era, which began in 1968, to become a Grand Slam champion for the first time. Vinci, who is 32, would have earned that distinction had she been able to follow her stunning upset of Serena Williams in Saturday's semifinals with another victory.
This was the first major final for either participant, and the first time since WTA computer rankings were instituted in 1975 that both US Open women's finalists were ranked outside the top 20 (Vinci is 43rd). Pennetta entered the tournament with only a 17-15 record this season.
Roberta Vinci was 20-20 in 2015, and 40-43 in majors for her career.
They grew up 65km apart in coastal towns in Puglia, a region on the heel of Italy's boot-shaped peninsula, and have been facing each other on court for two decades - with the stakes much lower, of course.
They shared laughs and tears in the locker room while watching a video of a television interview they did back in 1999, when they won the French Open junior doubles title as teenagers.
Shocking as the timing of Pennetta's announcement was, the biggest shock of these two weeks - and, indeed, it ranks up there in the history of tennis - was Vinci's win against No1 Williams in the semifinals.
That stopped Williams' 33-match winning streak in majors and her bid to become the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single season.
Vinci said the mental and physical exhaustion from that momentous triumph affected her yesterday.
"This morning, I woke up and thought, 'What did I do yesterday?!' I swear to God," Vinci said, resting her cheek on her left hand.
"Poor thing, [Williams] fought for the Grand Slam, and I stole her dream.
"When I went to bed last night, I thought: 'I wonder how Serena feels'. ... Because she deserved it. I don't mean that match - she deserved to win all four Slams. She won three and was so close."
