Pennetta: "It was Fognini who broke the wall of Italian tennis, not Sinner"

Flavia Pennetta is the latest Italian to have conquered a Grand Slam, despite the attempts of Jasmine Paolini reaching the finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2024. Pennetta surprised everyone by winning the US Open 2015 against her compatriot Roberta Vinci. A milestone that propelled her to fame: "I broke a barrier, for all Italian women: it is no coincidence that, from then on, we girls started a cycle. If Flavia did it, we can too," she declared in an interview for the Corriere della Sera.

However, she defended her husband Fabio Fognini, crediting him for reigniting interest in men's tennis in Italy, not Jannik Sinner: "For women, I was like Sinner. And for men, it was my husband Fognini who broke the barrier of Italian tennis, not Sinner."

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Pennetta: "Fue Fognini quien rompió el muro del tenis italiano, no Sinner"