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Flavia Pennetta routs CoCo Vandeweghe; Italy retains Fed Cup title

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Fed Cup rookie CoCo Vandeweghe couldn’t feed off the momentum that Melanie Oudin had provided the U.S. team. Vandeweghe too often couldn’t find the court, spraying her groundstrokes everywhere while the patient veteran Flavia Pennetta accepted the mistakes and kept her own game under control with a 6-1, 6-2 win over the 18-year-old American.

Pennetta’s win clinched Italy’s second consecutive Fed Cup title, giving her team a decisive 3-1 lead in the best-of-five format. It is Italy’s third Fed Cup title.

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Vandeweghe, 18, hit only 14 winners while committing 46 unforced errors in the 1-hour 20-minute match.

Oudin had upset the world’s seventh-ranked player, Francesca Schiavone, in the first match Sunday to keep the U.S.’ hopes alive, but Vandeweghe, after winning the first game of her match agaisnt Pennetta, never made a dent.

The U.S. hasn’t won the Fed Cup since 2000. Italy beat the U.S. in last year’s final in Italy.

After the final point, Pennetta raised her arms and then rushed into a group hug with her Italian teammates.

-- Diane Pucin in San Diego

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