Tennis dads. They can be a bit of a nightmare sometimes but they’re also quite adorable when you see them getting super-animated during a match and Flavia Pennetta’s father was just that during her match with Agnieszka Radwanska on Tuesday.
The Italian was on his feet, pumping his fists throughout Flavia’s victory and was really just the life of the party at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Flavia, who is retiring from tennis after the WTA Finals, told us her dad has always been that excited watching her matches but the one we saw on Tuesday was actually the toned down version of what he has been like all her life.
“My dad? Now he's quiet. Now it's much better. Now it's relax,” the US Open champion said between laughter.
“I'm used to. When I was young I was fighting with him all the time because he was really like stressful in the way you see. Sometime you see the face and you say, ‘papa, please don't do that’.
“But with age you just try to adjust of everything. It's his way. I try to tell him to be more relaxed. He is much more relaxing. But he's still really passionate person.”
Flavia has had this serene aura around her all week off the court as she clearly is on a mission to do her best but also enjoy the very last tournament of her career, which is why she jokingly told me off for bringing up Maria Sharapova, her upcoming opponent, moments after she beat Radwanska.
“I was enjoying this moment and then I have two days to think about Maria. Let me see the city, talk about the garden,” Pennetta said laughing, referring to the Gardens By The Bay, a touristic spot here in Singapore.
“No, it's okay. It's a joke,” she added after I apologised for spoiling her mood.
Meanwhile, Sharapova gave us a lesson in PR perfection when an Italian journalist asked her if she had sent a message to Flavia to congratulate her on her US Open win. Flavia had mentioned that she got a call from Rafael Nadal at 5:00 Spanish time as well as from Serena Williams.
Sharapova, who typically sticks to herself on tour, clearly hadn’t. Her response to the journalist’s query?
“I usually like to be the person that sends messages when you don't have a lot of success because I think that's more meaningful than when you do. Everyone will send a message when you win, right?” said the Russian.
Touché mademoiselle Maria!
