San Diego: After beating the United States at home and on the road in consecutive Fed Cup finals, the Italians really don't care if the Williams sisters were absent both times.
Flavia Pennetta routed 18-year-old CoCo Vandeweghe 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday to give Italy its second straight Fed Cup final victory over the United States. Pennetta's victory in the fourth singles match gave the Italians a 3-1 decision in the best-of-five finale.
Pennetta won after Melanie Oudin stunned French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-1 to keep the United States alive.
Venus and Serena Williams sat out last year's Fed Cup final and both missed this one due to injuries.
"Of course, if Serena and Venus want to play, the chance to win, it's less," said Pennetta, who's ranked second in the world in doubles and 23rd in singles. "They are really good players. They are really strong. But we fight a lot to be here, to have this trophy. Before we play the US, we play another two important teams. All the best players in the other teams were there. It's not making any difference if they play or not play.
"Still we won this unbelievable Fed Cup and nobody can say nothing about that."
Pennetta won two matches during the weekend to carry the Italians. Vandeweghe, making her Fed Cup debut, lost twice. With the match decided, doubles weren't played.
Italy beat the United States 4-0 last year. The Italians have won three titles in five years.
With Billie Jean King watching from the front row, Pennetta won six straight games in the first set after Vandeweghe, ranked 114th, broke serve in the first game.
In the epic second game, Vandeweghe took a 40-0 lead, helped by an ace on a second serve. But consecutive double faults let Pennetta back in. Seven deuces later, she broke Vandeweghe.
On the second match-point, Vandeweghe hit a backhand service return out. Pennetta raised her arms over her head, shook hands with Vandeweghe, then joined in a group hug with her teammates and captain Corrado Barazzutti.
"I always think in Fed Cup, you can beat everyone, you can lose to everyone," Pennetta said. "It's not easy to play for your country, to give your best for the time that you are on the court, because sometime you can be real nervous and you can have a panic attack. But I really enjoyed today for my country. I enjoyed playing for this team."
Vandeweghe wiped away tears at the post-match news conference.
"I was very disappointed in myself and the way that it turned out, but I tried my best out there and fought as hard as I could," she said. My mindset going in was to play as hard as I can, play the way I know how to play, do the best I can out there."
Captain Mary Joe Fernandez said Vandeweghe "gave herself chances here and there and she played a world-class opponent who came up with good shots at the right time."
In the first match, the 19-year-old Oudin dominated the 30-year-old Schiavone from midway through the first set to pull the United States to 2-1.
Oudin said King came into the players' lounge before the match, wished her luck and patted her on the back.
"I heard her cheering," Oudin said. "I was playing for myself, the team and the whole US. Sometimes the Fed Cup can bring out the best in people and that's what happened today.
"Today is the best I've played in a long time. I felt confident out there."
Said Schiavone: "I feel sad for the team. It's just one point and it's not finished."
Fernandez substituted Oudin for the United States No. 1 player, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who cramped up in her loss to Pennetta on Saturday. Fernandez had made the bold move to name Vandeweghe as the Americans' No. 2 player over Oudin but Vandeweghe lost 6-2, 6-4 to Schiavone in the first match on Saturday.
Oudin won the last three games of the first set, then won the first three games of the second set, the first two at love. After Schiavone held serve in the fourth game, Oudin closed it out by winning three straight games. She won match point on an ace and the crowd roared when the official review showed it was just in.
Starting with the final point of the first set, Oudin won 13 straight points before double-faulting at 40-0 in the third game of the second set. She held serve to take a 3-0 lead.
Oudin set the tone in the second game of the first set when she broke Schiavone's serve to take a 2-1 lead. Neither player held serve until Oudin did so in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. When Schiavone hit a forehand out on set point, Oudin clenched her fist in celebration.
"She was ready for everything and her energy, she played very long rallies," Schiavone said of the American teenager.
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