Italy’s Flavia Pennetta continued her impressive comeback at the WTA Tour by reaching the US Open 2013 quarterfinals for the fourth time. She defeated one of the hottest players on tour right now – 21st seed Simona Halep of Romania.
Pennetta had a wrist surgery in 2012 and will have to fight her way back up the rankings.
“It was and still is really tough,” Pennetta said regarding her comeback. “A lot of things changed when I came back in March. My coach, my doubles partner, the feelings I had on the court, everything. But I just tried to come back and play as many matches as I could, singles, doubles, mixed, everything.
“When you stop for such a long time, like seven months, you feel different. You might not have a problem in your hand, but you start having problems in your leg or abdominal muscle or something, because you aren’t used to playing. Your body needs more time to recover and it’s really difficult.
“My results since I came back this year have been up and down. But I was always working hard, still working every day with my coach, with my physio, with the physical coach and my psychologist, too.
“It hasn’t been easy, I can tell you that. I’ve cried a lot. But I love this sport. I tried my best – if I could come back, good, but if not, I had a good career and didn’t have to do anything more. But I wanted another chance to prove myself. I tried 100%, and I did it. And now, my results are good again.”
Pennetta will face countrywoman Roberta Vinci. Vinci, the tournament’s 10th seed, won her fourth round match earlier in the day against another Italian Camila Giorgi.
