C O L U M N S

REGGIO CALABRIA: Italy claimed their second Fed Cup title in three years as Flavia Pennetta cruised to a 7-5, 6-2 win against American teenager Melanie Oudin on the red clay here on Sunday.

The victory in just over an hour and a half gave Italy an unassailable 3-0 lead in what proved to be a damp squib of a contest following the withdrawals of Serena and Venus Williams from the American team.

Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone had both recorded simple straight-set victories against Alexa Glatch and Oudin respectively on Saturday as the visitors paid for coming to the final with their hopes resting on the shoulders of an 18-year-old and a 20-year-old ranked 132 in the world.

It was the first time Italy had beaten the USA, who have a record 17 Fed Cup titles, in 10 ties and the first time they won the title on home soil.

Italy's only previous Fed Cup success came in Belgium three years ago while they lost the final in Russia in 2007.

Team captain Corrado Barazzutti pulled no punches in his reaction. 'These girls have re-written the history of Italian tennis,' he enthused.

'I believe they are one of the best ever teams in Italian sport. The first win (in 2006) was incredible but the second, at home, in front of our fans, is beyond all limits. These girls are amazing.'

For Pennetta this was the ideal culmination to her best ever season in which she became the first Italian women to reach the world's top 10, she's currently ranked 11.

'It's the perfect end to a great season. Now I can go on holiday even more happy. I would have been happy anyway but now it's perfect,' she said.

The first set was competitive although Pennetta broke a nervous Oudin in the first game of the match.

Not known for her serve, the Italian then used that weapon to keep her nose in front, serving two aces in the sixth game and then saving the first break point she faced in the eighth with another ace.

'In the beginning we were both a bit nervous, it wasn't easy to play first on the Sunday,' added Pennetta.

'But I think my serve was working very well today. I was pretty focused on my game, I didn't make many mistakes and I played every point, that's the key.'

However, she faltered for the first time in the match when serving for the set at 5-4, where she made three unforced errors to be broken despite leading 30-0.

But Oudin immediately handed her back the advantage with a double fault on break point and Pennetta comfortably served out the set.

Oudin held serve at the start of the second and moved ahead 40-15 on Pennetta's serve but the 27-year-old saved the first break point with yet another ace.

A service winner gave her game point and then a backhand winner down the line ensured she stayed in control.

Oudin then had a 30-0 lead on her serve but her inexperience told when she let herself be distracted by a shout from the crowd during a point, yelling 'shut up' at the stands after losing that.

She followed that up with two backhand errors and was broken three times in a row after that.

'It's really hard playing in front of an entire crowd that's cheering against you and yelling during the points,' she said.

'Just saying things that I definitely could understand right before I was serving. And I tried not to let it get to me, but it's always in the back of my head.'

Her only respite was a break back at 1-4 down but Pennetta was untroubled and she sealed the win on a backhand winner. -AFP