Tennis: Top Italian confirmed for Classic

Italian Flavia Pennetta will follow up a successful year on the professional women's tennis circuit with a first appearance in January's ASB Classic at Auckland.

The world No 12 was today confirmed as the latest addition to the main draw of the WTA tournament.

Pennetta, 27, is coming off a great year in which she won two titles and beat a number of top-ranked players.

Her first title was at Palermo in Italy, where she defeated countrywoman Sara Errani in the final.

Her other success was in Los Angeles, where she beat Russians Nadia Petrova, Vera Zvonareva and Maria Sharapova, before overcoming Australian Sam Stosur for the title.

Those results culminated in a career-high ranking at the end of August of No 10, making her the first Italian to reach that mark.

Pennetta continued her good form in her following two tournaments with semifinal appearances at Cincinnati and at New Haven, where she beat Venus Williams.

The following week she reached the quarterfinals of the United States Open for a second year in a row with a three-set win over Zvonareva before being beaten by Serena Williams.

Other top performances including making the final at Acapulco where she was stopped by Venus Williams.

In all, Pennetta has won eight singles and six doubles titles during her career on the WTA Tour.

She also played in the Fed Cup final this month, helping hosts Italy to a 4-0 victory over the United States.

- NZPA