Nice article on Flava Flav on Tennis.com.
It's a big change for a player who was taken to the hospital during her first junior tournament because she was so nervous she couldn't breathe. It's also a welcome change from the end of last season, when Pennetta learned how fleeting success can be.
In October, Federico Luzzi, an ATP pro from Italy and one of Pennetta's best friends, died of leukemia at age 28. Luzzi's playing career had been ended earlier in the year when he was suspended for 200 days and fined $50,000 for placing nearly 300 bets on tennis matches. (He was not accused of fixing matches, though he once bet $4.50 on himself to win.) Luzzi was working on a comeback last fall when he retired from an Italian league match with a fever. He saw a doctor and was told the following week that he had cancer; three days later, he was dead. Pennetta and Potito Starace, a pro who had lived with Luzzi, were devastated.
"I grew up with him," Pennetta said. "We didn't see each other so much because the tours are different, but he was the kind of person you see one time after three months and it's the same. It was very tough, something you cannot explain."
Pennetta has had sadness in her personal life as well. She had dated Carlos Moya, the former No. 1 and 1998 French Open champion, for several years, and says they were talking about marriage before Moya left her in 2007. She says she is single now, and happy about it.
"Everything happens for a reason," she said.
As she has moved up the rankings this year, Pennetta has kept Luzzi in her mind. She's not sure why she is having so much more success this season than previous years. Perhaps it's because her life no longer begins and ends with the sport. In fact, she's already looking forward to a life after tennis: First, a family, and then career helping to develop Italian players. And maybe her own motorbike, too.
Good on ya, Flavs.
