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Flavia Pennetta beat Melanie Oudin 7-5, 6-2 in the opening rubber on Sunday to wrap up a second Fed Cup title in three years for Italy. The US team came into the three rubber Sunday 2-0 down needing a miracle to claw themselves out of the whole that Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone had dug for them. That however did not happen despite a good effort from young Oudin as world no.11 Pennetta had too much experience and used it to the fore to claw herself out of a couple of tough situations.

Pennetta started well breaking the Oudin serve in the opening game and holding to love in the following game to consolidate the break. Games went on serve till the 10th game whe n the set was on the Italian's racquet to serve out. Pennetta raced to a 30-0 lead but then inexplicably lost 4 points in a row and with it the advantage.

However sadly for the young American after working so hard to claw her way back into the contest she handed it straight back to Pennetta, throwing in a double fault on break point. Pennetta did not need to be asked twice to win the first set, and this time she served it out with ease.

Oudin had her chances early on in the second set, Pennetta serving a couple of break points in her opening service game. However it was Pennetta who would once again take the early lead breaking serve in the third game for a 2-1 lead. Pennetta held serve to love to consolidate the break and then picked up an insurance break in the following game for a 4-1 lead.

With the match seemingly over, Oudin played a fantastic game with the pressure finally lifted and broke back for 4-2. However a host of unforced errors handed another break to Pennetta, and the Italian roared on by a raucous home crowd at Reggio Calabria served out the match to win the tie.

The teams opted to skip the second reverse singles, but did give the fans some additional entertainment by playing the doubles match despite the rubber being a dead affair. The Italian pair of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci came back from a set down to narrowly edge Liezel Huber and Vania King 4-6, 6-3, 11-9 to romp to a 4-0 win. This is the first time in 10 meetings that Italy has beaten the United States in the Fed Cup.

Sunday Scores:

Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Melanie Oudin (USA) 7-5, 6-2
Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. Liezel Huber / Vania King (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 11-9

Saturday Scores:

Flavia Pennetta d. Alexa Glatch 6-3 6-1
Francesca Schiavone d. Melanie Oudin 7-6 6-2

Italy 4 - 0 USA

File Photograph: Italian Open (Constantini)

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