Player of the week: Flavia Pennetta / Melanie Oudin

With the great motivation of playing for their countries, it is usual that some players become the heroes of their Fed Cup teams. Multiple players had a remarkable performance last weekend, but we are going to highlight two of them.


With two titles in 2006 and 2009, Italy is one of the strongest Fed Cup teams. And one of the keys of their success is having a solid leader in Flavia Pennetta. This year they have the pressure of being the defending champions, and had a complicated start as they were playing in Ukraine. The tie started in the worst possible way, with Ukranian Alona Bondarenko sweeping Italian Francesca Schiavone. But Pennetta came to the rescue and eased the way of the Italian team with two straight set victories over Katerina Bondarenko and Ukranian #1 Alona Bondarenko.


With the Williams sisters skipping Fed Cup, the leadership of USA team rest on the shoulders of 18 year-old Melanie Oudin. And despite not having good results since her amazing run at the US Open 2009 and playing away against a classic Fed Cup team as France, Oudin didn't feel the pressure and led her team to the victory. Encouraged by the victory of US #2 Bethanie Mattek over French #1 Alize Cornet, Oudin sealed the tie with two straight set victories over Pauline Parmentier and Julie Coin.