NEW YORK: Factbox on Italy's Flavia Pennetta, who will meet compatriot Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open women's final on Saturday:

Born: February 25, 1982 in Brindisi, Italy

Seed: 26

GRAND SLAM TITLES: None.

MAKING HER NAME

Pennetta's father introduced her to tennis at age five.

Played first events of tennis career on ITF Circuit in Italy in 1997.

Enters the professional circuit in 2000 but is unsuccessful in her attempts to qualify for five WTA tournaments, including Wimbledon.

Competed in her first three WTA main draws in 2002, reaching no further than the second round but managing to have her first top 100 season.

TENNIS CAREER

Wins first WTA title of her career in 2004 at Sopot, Poland.

Reached first grand slam quarter-finals at the 2008 U.S. Open.

Became the first Italian to crack the top 10 in the world rankings in 2009.

Became Italy's first top-10 female singles player in 2009 and, in 2011, became the country's first player to be ranked No. 1 in doubles.

In doubles, Pennetta won her first grand slam title at the 2011 Australian Open with Argentine Gisela Dulko.

PATH TO THE FINAL:

1st round - beat Jarmila Gajdosova (Australia) 6-1 3-6 6-1, 2nd round - beat Monica Niculescu (Romania) 6-1 6-4, 3rd round - beat Petra Cetkovska (Czech Republic) 1-6 6-1 6-4, 4th round - beat Sam Stosur (Australia) 6-4 6-4, QF - beat Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 4-6 6-4 6-2, SF - beat Simona Halep (Romania) 6-1 6-3.