US Open champion Flavia Pennetta received the Gazzetta dello Sport Award as the Best Italian Sportswoman of the year during a glittering Award Ceremony held yesterday evening in Milan. Roberta Vinci, who finished runner-up to Pennetta in the US Open final, won the Best Performance of the Year Award for her sensational win over Serena Williams in the US Open semifinal.
Pennetta was voted by readers of the Gazzetta dello Sport (the famous Italian sports newspaper) as the Best Woman Athlete of 2015 ahead of foil fencer Elisa Di Francisca (Olympic champion in 2012, World champion in 2010 and European champion in Montreux 2015) and diving World champion Tania Cagnotto (2015 1-metre springboard world champion in Moscow). Readers and fans could cast their vote in different categories (Men’s Athlete of the Year, Women’s Athlete of the Year, Best Men’s Performance of the Year, Best Women’s Performance of the Year, Best Gentelman of the Year, Best team of the Year and Best Coach of the Year and Best Paralympic Sportsperson of the Year) on the website of the Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I consider this award as a career award. It wasn extrahordinary year. I thought that the Grand Slam title would be just a dream for me but I managed to achieve this goal. I still cannot believe it. My father Oronzo hoped to see me at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro but I confirm my decision to retire from tennis”, said Pennetta
Roberta Vinci beat Tania Cagnotto and motorcycle road racer Danilo Petrucci for the Best Performance of the Year Award. In the US Open semifinal the Italian player came back from a set down to beat Serena Williams who was just two matches away from clinching the Calender Year Grand Slam.
