Serena Williams shared a classy congratulations with U.S. Open winner Flavia Pennetta

Flavia Pennetta
(Image credit: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

In an all-Italian U.S. Open final, No. 26 Flavia Pennetta defeated No. 43 Roberta Vinci to earn her first-ever Grand Slam title Saturday.

"This was the perfect moment, I think," she said. "Was a really hard decision to make, but I’m really happy that I did it."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Vinci, a longtime friend of Pennetta's, claimed a spot in the final after stunning Serena Williams in the semifinals, ending the top-ranked player's bid to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam.

Williams congratulated Pennetta via Twitter. Julie Kliegman

Explore More
Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.