Pennetta gives Italy early lead

Reggio Calabria - World No 11 Flavia Pennetta cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory against American Alexa Glatch to give hosts Italy a 1-0 lead in the Fed Cup final on red clay here on Saturday.

Glatch may have won the pair's only previous meeting but here the gulf in class between the two, who are separated by 121 places in the world rankings, was obvious.

The 20-year-old American simply made too many mistakes to even give herself a half-chance at victory and the result never looked in doubt.

Pennetta set up a break point in the third game with a delicate drop-shot to move 40-15 ahead before closing it out.

Glatch then played a loose game at 3-5, culminating in a wayward forehand error to hand Pennetta a second break and the set.

She came out determinedly in the second set and after a marathon game she broke the Italian at the fifth attempt.

But that proved a false dawn as it was the last game she won. Pennetta broke back with a cross-court passing shot following a winner down the line to set up the break point.

A Glatch error handed her another break and a winner down the line gave her a 5-1 lead.

Pennetta then held serve to love, securing the win with a service winner as she avenged her embarrassing 6-1, 6-1 defeat in the first round at Roland Garros earlier this year.

The second singles on Sunday will see world No 16 Francesca Schiavone of Italy take on 18-year-old American Melanie Oudin.