Oudin blast for Williams sisters

Teenager Melanie Oudin aimed a veiled broadside at the absent Williams sisters after Italy completed an easy thrashing of the United States in the final of the Fed Cup on Sunday.

World number 11 Flavia Pennetta eased to a 7-5, 6-2 beating of 18-year-old Oudin to put the hosts into an unassailable 3-0 lead in the tie.

All three matches finished in straight sets with Italians Pennetta and Schiavone dropping a meagre total of five games in their second sets.

World number one Serena Williams and her sixth-ranked sister Venus opted to miss this tournament despite playing each other in the season-ending Tour Championships in Doha last weekend.

Serena then went to London to promote a book while her compatriots were forced to tackle the Italians with players ranked 49 and 132 in the world.

'For me, this is what I wanted. I wanted to come here. I wanted to play for my country,' said Oudin.

'I don't know, other people choose different things. Some people, I guess, didn't want to play as badly as I did.

'But I think that the team that we had here really wanted to be here. I think that was what should have happened.

'I mean, you don't want people here that don't want to be here.

'Next year we're gonna have people that want to be here again. That's what you want. You don't want people that don't want to be here or play for their country.

'Even if you lose, if you give it everything you have, then that's the best you can do.'

While the Americans' best two players, who have not played in the Fed Cup since 2007, decided to skip this event, it was clear how much winning meant to the Italians.

Pennetta described this victory as the 'perfect end to a great season' in which she also became the first ever Italian woman to reach the top 10 in the world.

'For me it's very important to be champion of the world in tennis,' she said.

'To represent your country is different. Usually you play for yourself and no-one cares but here it's totally different.'

Oudin was impressed by just how patriotic the Italian players are.

'I knew this coming into this Fed Cup that they have a real team. Every single one of them has played Fed Cup before,' she said.

'They all want to be here. I'm at tournaments and I always see them hanging out with each other and warming each other up and watching each other's matches and cheering for each other.

'So they are a real team and I think that's what's really helped them in this Fed Cup, this year.

'Their team effort, the team atmosphere, everything, they do it extremely well. I think that's a huge part of Fed Cup.'