Italy’s Flavia Pennetta upsets Venus Williams, reaches quarterfinals at Cincinnati

Pennetta upsets Venus Williams at Cincinnati

MASON, Ohio — When Venus Williams needed to make a shot, she couldn’t come close.

Williams dumped routine shots into the net or hit them long throughout a 7-6 (2), 6-4 loss to Italy’s Flavia Pennetta on Thursday, the first major upset at the Cincinnati Open. Kim Clijsters extender her comeback for another day, pulling out a three-set victory that sent her into the quarterfinals.

Williams didn’t even come close.

The third-seeded American had 38 unforced errors, and made some of her worst shots at the biggest moments. She hit a couple of forehands long during the final points of the first-set tiebreaker, and ended the match by sending a forehand well beyond the baseline.

“I wasn’t able to get control of my ball today,” said Williams, who even struggled with her serve. “After a while, it was obvious to see she was just keeping the ball in play and waiting for me to self-destruct.”

Her meltdown overshadowed a comeback.

The $2 million Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open has become a springboard for Clijsters’ return from a two-year layoff to recharge and start a family. She won her first two matches of the tournament rather easily, then persevered through a tough test.

She showed a lot of focus and energy in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova during the midday heat. The 26-year-old Clijsters won all four points in the final game, then pumped her fist in celebration of her berth in the quarterfinals.

“My mindset was really good,” she said. “I feel really good after this match. It’s not that I feel tired or drained or anything, just a few little aches and pains from getting back into playing matches.”

The former No. 1-ranked player had to find another way to win points when her serve deserted her early in the match. She made only 39 percent of her first serves in the opening set, but managed to win anyway.

“There are patches where my level is really good, then I have a few dips,” she said.

It was the best measure yet of her conditioning. There was full sun and temperatures in the 80s during the match, which lasted an hour and 59 minutes. Kuznetsova asked for a break after the second set because she was so hot.

“The conditions today, they were extremely hot,” Kuznetsova said. “So it was not really easy to play your game.”

Pennetta reached the quarterfinals by extending her run of solid matches. The 14th-seeded Italian won the LA Women’s Tennis Championships on Sunday, giving her confidence.

Plus, she’s 4-3 career against Williams, who couldn’t hold up against Pennetta’s steady play at the baseline.

When Williams’ forehand sailed long to end the match, Pennetta raised both arms in celebration, then put her left hand on her forehead as she approached the net.

“I’m shaking,” she said, shortly after shaking Williams’ hand.

The 27-year-old doesn’t usually get so emotional after a match.

“Very unusual,” she said. “I don’t know. The emotion was crazy. Coming from Los Angeles, I didn’t have a lot of days to rest. I was playing like that — yesterday, not my best tennis. I was tired. When everything comes together, the emotions go up.”

Despite playing so many matches in such a short time, Pennetta hasn’t been forced to go three sets this week. When her match against Williams reached its turning points, she didn’t make a mistake.

“My confidence now — it’s perfect, you know,” she said. “It’s always (perfect) when you win a lot of matches like this. You believe more in yourself. When I got on the court today, I was just believing in myself.”

Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia reached the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (6), 0-6, 7-6 (5) victory over seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia. No. 8 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark also reached the quarterfinals when Hungary’s Melinda Czink retired because of a back injury in the first set of their match.