Sunday 13 September 2015 19:10, UK
Flavia Pennetta described winning the US Open as the "perfect" way to end her career, after she announced her retirement from the sport at the age of 33.
Pennetta made history at Flushing Meadows on Saturday night, becoming the oldest maiden winner of a Grand Slam and the first Italian to win the US Open women's title, beating childhood friend Roberta Vinci in straight sets.
Moments after her 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 win, before she even lifted the trophy in front of the Arthur Ashe crowd, she announced her retirement.
"My life is perfect," Pennetta said, when asked how she would look back at the championship. "Perfect.
"This one was my last US Open match, and I couldn't think to finish in a better way."
Pennetta, who is engaged to fellow Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini, said she would play to the end of this season, including tournaments in Wuhan, Beijing and possibly the elite eight-woman WTA Finals in Singapore.
Having battled injuries on a regular basis in recent years, Pennetta said she made the decision to call time on her career at last month's Toronto event.
"Sometimes it's getting hard for me to compete. This is the important point," she explained. "When you are in the court, when you have to play 24 weeks in the year, you have to fight every week.
"And if you don't fight every week in the same way I did today, it's gonna be bad. I don't feel to have this power anymore sometimes.
"So this is the perfect moment, I think. It was a really hard decision to make but I'm really happy that I did it. I'm really happy and proud of myself."
Pennetta, who had previously climbed as high as 10th in the rankings in 2009 but will shoot up to eighth after this success, always seemed to save her best grand slam performances for the US Open.
Prior to this week, she was a semi-finalist in New York in 2013 and reached the Flushing Meadows quarter-finals on four other occasions.
"I think I did everything that I expected," she said about her career. "More. Much more."
There to congratulate both women was Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
"He said: 'You won't understand what will happen now in Italy. It's good that you are here because it's going to be crazy back in Italy now. It's good to stay here a few days, just relax a little bit and then go back home.'"
Making the occasion extra special was sharing the stage with Vinci, who had miraculously overcome top-seeded world number one Serena Williams with a stunning semi-final victory that crushed the American's dream of completing a calendar Grand Slam.
"She is like a sister," said Pennetta. "It's so magical, you have one of your best friends with you in this moment. It's amazing."
They met some 24 years ago as young players in southern Italy.
"It's funny to be here today, because we played our first match when we were nine years old," she said, adding that they moved to Rome together when she was 14.
"We spent four years in a house together in the same room in Rome at the Italian Federation. We have so many things in our life happening together. So today was a really big day for both of us."
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