US Open Tennis 2015: Flavia Pennetta Trophy Celebration Quotes, Photos

Flavia Pennetta saved her best for last—literally.

The No. 26-seeded Italian toppled fellow country woman Roberta Vinci, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in Saturday's 2015 U.S. Open women's final, then dropped the mic during her championship speech by announcing her retirement from tennis.

The retirement announcement did nothing to quell the excitement from Pennetta's first Grand Slam title, as U.S. Open congratulated her:

With the way the match started, there was no telling if what turned out to be Pennetta's final match would end in celebration or agony. As they've done so many times in the past, Pennetta and Vinci battled one another in the opening set that went into a tiebreak.

But when unforced errors marred Vinci's chance to take an early lead, Pennetta went for the jugular early in the ensuing set. She jumped on Vinci's first serve and broke it, paving the way to a cruise into the winner's circle.

The only thing better than Pennetta's performance was the impeccable sportsmanship shown from the two finalists, who had a long embrace at the net before sharing many laughs during the ceremony, as tennis great Boris Becker noted:

Less than 24 hours after her shocking upset of Serena Williams in the semifinals, Vinci was happy to enjoy the moment with her fellow Italian, as the New York Times' Ben Rothenberg observed:

Pennetta and Vinci shared some great moments during the ceremony in which the victor celebrated her title, but minutes into it the viewing public had to pick their jaws up off the floor.

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

That's because in shocking fashion, Pennetta announced at the end of her speech that she is retiring from professional tennis. She made the decision a month ago in preparation for the U.S. Open that this would be her last, as David Waldstein of the New York Times noted:

The fact that she decided this before the U.S. Open is surprising, considering that she couldn't have expected in her wildest dreams to be hoisting the title at the end of it. But that's how she will likely end her career, as ESPN Tennis showed:

"

"This is the way I would like to say goodbye to tennis." - @flavia_pennetta #ESPNTennis #USOpen pic.twitter.com/ZHIvPNlPSG

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) September 12, 2015"

Meanwhile, tennis journalist Chris Goldsmith gave Pennetta some food for thought for a possible return:

It's pretty safe to say his wish will go unfulfilled. Considering it took Pennetta 13 years of professional tennis to get to the apex of the sport, she's not about to go back on her previous pledge now.

After all, you can't ask for a better way to go out. Like an NFL veteran calling it quits after a Super Bowl victory, going out on top is the best way to do it.

Pennetta got that opportunity Saturday, and she took full advantage.