Francesca Schiavone

Francesca Schiavone

at the 2011 Roland Garros
Country (sports)	Italy
Residence	Milan, Italy
Born	(1980-06-23) 23 June 1980 Milan, Italy
Height	1.66 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	1996
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ 7,492,423
Singles
Career record	467–320
Career titles	4 WTA
Highest ranking	No. 4 (January 31, 2011)
Current ranking	No. 5 (May 23, 2011)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (2011)
French Open	W (2010)
Wimbledon	QF (2009)
US Open	QF (2003, 2010)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (2010)
Doubles
Career record	187–157
Career titles	7 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 8 (February 12, 2007)
Current ranking	No. 135 (May 23, 2011)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	SF (2009)
French Open	F (2008)
Wimbledon	QF (2006)
US Open	SF (2006)
Last updated on: May 16, 2011.

Francesca Schiavone (Italian pronunciation: [franˈtʃeska skjaˈvoːne]; born 23 June 1980 in Milan) is an Italian tennis player who turned professional in 1998. She won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. Her current ranking is World No. 5 and her career high ranking is World No. 4, achieved on January 31, 2011.

Playing style

Schiavone employs an all court game and has a very classic approach to her clay game. She uses an extreme eastern grip (same as semi-western forehand grip) on her one handed backhand much like Justine Henin and also has a strong forehand. While commentating on her epic match against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open for ESPN2, both Chris Fowler and Brad Gilbert described her forehand as a "buggy whip."

Professional career

Schiavone has won four singles titles on the WTA tour, but has also achieved ten runner-ups in total, eight of them since the autumn of 2005. Schiavone lost her first eight career finals before finally winning her first title in July 2007. She and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Flavia Pennetta, and Roberta Vinci beat the Belgium team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin had to retire in the fifth and final match due to an injury in her right knee, which let Italy win their first Fed Cup trophy. This match was a doubles match and Kirsten Flipkens partnered Henin and Roberta Vinci partnered Schiavone. In 2009 she won the Fed Cup with Italy for the second time against the USA, and also made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time. In 2010 Italy with Schiavone won the Fed Cup for the third time.

In addition, she realized a notable victory during the quarterfinals of the 2008 Dubai Duty Free Women's Open, when she upset World No. 1 and four-time champion Henin 7–6, 7–6. She also beat Amélie Mauresmo in a Fed Cup tie in 2006 when Mauresmo was ranked No. 1.

Partnering with Australian Casey Dellacqua, Schiavone was the runner-up in the women's doubles competition at the 2008 French Open.

2010

At the Australian Open Francesca defeated Frenchwomen Alizé Cornet 0–6, 7–5, 6–0. and Julie Coin 6–3, 6–4 first before upseting No. 10 seed Agnieszka Radwańska 6–2, 6–2. Though she matched her best results there (4R), she went on to lose to No. 6 seed Venus Williams after winning the first set 3–6, 6–2, 6–1.

She beat Alberta Brianti, Tathiana Garbin, Carla Suárez Navarro, Yaroslava Shvedova, and Roberta Vinci all in straight sets to win her 3rd WTA title at the Barcelona Ladies Open.

Seeded 17th entering the 2010 French Open, Schiavone was lightly regarded as a contender for the championship. She defeated Regina Kulikova, Sophie Ferguson, 11th seed Li Na, and 30th seed Maria Kirilenko to reach her first French Open quarterfinal since 2001 (where she had lost to Martina Hingis). In the quarterfinals, she defeated world #3 Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to become the first Italian woman to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles event.

The semifinals of the French Open consisted of four players (Jelena Janković, Elena Dementieva, Samantha Stosur and Schiavone) who had never won a Grand Slam singles event; nevertheless, most in the tennis community, including ESPN's tennis commentary team of Mary Jo Fernandez, Patrick McEnroe and Brad Gilbert singled out Schiavone as the one player who was not a serious contender to win the title. In the semifinals, Schiavone defeated world #5 Dementieva after Dementieva retired in the second set with a torn calf muscle having lost the first set in a tiebreaker; the victory made Schiavone the first Italian woman to reach a Grand Slam final, and assured that she would become a top-ten player for the first time following the tournament.

In the final, Schiavone faced Stosur in a rematch of their first-round meeting at the 2009 French Open which Stosur had won easily (6–4, 6–2). Because of this previous result, and Stosur's victories over four-time French Open champion Justine Henin, world #1 Serena Williams and world #4 Janković en route to the final, Stosur was considered a heavy favorite to defeat Schiavone. However, on 5 June 2010, Schiavone defied expectations to become the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, defeating Stosur 6–4, 7–6(2). The victory made her only the third Italian player to win a Grand Slam event in singles, after Nicola Pietrangeli and Adriano Panatta. The victory also meant she rose to number 6 in the World Rankings on 7 June 2010 and became the highest ranked Italian woman ever after Flavia Pennetta reached world No. 10 in 2009.

Schiavone's next event after the French Open was Eastbourne, where she lost in the first-round to Sorana Cîrstea 5–7, 3–6.

Schiavone was the 5th seed at Wimbledon, due to the pre-tournament withdrawal of Dementieva, however she lost to Vera Dushevina in the first round 7–6, 5–7, 1–6.

Schiavone reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Rogers Cup, where she fell to top seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Schiavone was the 6th seed at the US Open. She defeated Ayumi Morita, Maria Elena Camerin, 29th seed Alona Bondarenko, and 20th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2003 (where she had lost to Jennifer Capriati). In the quarterfinals, she fell to seven-time Grand Slam singles champion #3 seed Venus Williams 7–6(5), 6–4.

As the 5th seed, Schiavone reached the semifinals of the 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open, where she fell to 7th seed Elena Dementieva.

At the season-ending WTA Tour Championships, Schiavone competed for the first time in her career but was eliminated in the round robin stage. Schiavone fell to Caroline Wozniacki in three sets, Samantha Stosur in two sets and before defeating Elena Dementieva in what would be Dementieva's final career match.

2011

Schiavone began the year at the 2011 Hopman Cup representing Italy. In singles, Schiavone defeated Great Britain's Laura Robson, but fell to American Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Schiavone retired with an injury against Kristina Mladenovic.

Seeded 6th at the 2011 Australian Open, Schiavone advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in her career upon a memorable victory over 23rd seeded and two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. The 4th round encounter lasted nearly five hours (4:44; 47 games in total), and Schiavone saved six match points before finally prevailing 6–4, 1–6, 16–14. With this win, Schiavone rose in the rankings to World No. 4 after the tournament, the highest ranking ever achieved by an Italian woman, improving her own record. Unfortunately, her good fortune did not last in the quarterfinal against World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, in a rematch of their 2010 French Open quarterfinal, which Schiavone won en route to the title. Although Schiavone was a set and 3–1 up in the second set, she was broken twice by Wozniacki in the same set and twice in the third, to lose 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 despite fighting her way out of three match points.

At the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships, Schiavone was seeded 3rd, but fell in the Round of 16 to Kuznetsova. At the 2011 Qatar Ladies Open in Doha, Schiavone fell to Peng Shuai in the Round of 16. She then fell to eventual champion Jelena Dokic at the 2011 Malaysian Open. Schiavone then reached the Round of 16 again at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, falling to Shahar Peer. Seeded 5th at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Schiavone reached the Round of 16, losing to Agnieszka Radwanska.

Schiavone began her clay court season with a Round of 16 loss to Radwanska at the 2011 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. She then reached the Round of 16 at the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open, falling to Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Following Madrid, Schiavone then reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, losing to World No. 7 Samantha Stosur, in a rematch of the 2010 French Open final. She then lost to World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in three sets during the semifinals of the 2011 Brussels Open, the last tournament before the French Open.

Schiavone is the 5th seed and the defending champion at the 2011 French Open. She routed Melanie Oudin in the first round and beat Vesna Dolonts in the second round. She then beat 29th seed Peng Shuai in the third round after Peng retired. She faces 10th seed Jelena Jankovic in the 4th round.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2010	French Open	Clay	Samantha Stosur	6–4, 7–6(2)

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2008	French Open	Clay	Casey Dellacqua	Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual	2–6, 7–5, 6–4

WTA Tour finals

Singles finals: 14 (4–10)

Winner — Legend (pre/post 2010) Grand Slam tournaments (1–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–1) Tier II / Premier (1–3) Tier III, IV & V / International (2–6)

Titles by Surface Hard (1–6) Grass (0–0) Clay (3–2) Carpet (0–2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	12 June 2000	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Hard	Iroda Tulyaganova	6–3, 2–6, 6–3
Runner-up	2.	6 January 2003	Canberra, Australia	Hard	Meghann Shaughnessy	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	3.	12 September 2005	Bali, Indonesia	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	4.	10 October 2005	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Mary Pierce	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	5.	24 October 2005	Hasselt, Belgium	Carpet	Kim Clijsters	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	6.	9 January 2006	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Justine Henin	4–6, 7–5, 7–5
Runner-up	7.	3 April 2006	Amelia Island, United States	Clay	Nadia Petrova	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	8.	25 September 2006	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard	Alona Bondarenko	6–3, 6–2
Winner	1.	29 July 2007	Bad Gastein, Austria	Clay	Yvonne Meusburger	6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	9.	13 July 2009	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Sybille Bammer	7–6, 6–2
Runner-up	10.	12 October 2009	Osaka, Japan	Hard	Samantha Stosur	7–5, 6–1
Winner	2.	25 October 2009	Moscow, Russia	Hard (i)	Olga Govortsova	6–3, 6–0
Winner	3.	17 April 2010	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Roberta Vinci	6–1, 6–1
Winner	4.	5 June 2010	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Samantha Stosur	6–4, 7–6(2)

Doubles wins (8)

Legend: Before 2009	Legend: Starting in 2009
Grand Slam tournaments (0)
WTA Championships (0)
Tier I (1)	Premier Mandatory (0)
Tier II (4)	Premier 5 (1)
Tier III (1)	Premier (0)
Tier IV (0)	International (0)
ITF Circuit (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1.	13 September 1998	Edinburgh	Clay	Antonella Serra Zanetti	Louise Latimer Helen Reesby	6–3 6–3
2.	29 July 2001	Sopot	Clay	Joannette Kruger	Yulia Beygelzimer Anastasia Rodionova	6–4 6–0
3.	2 May 2004	Warsaw	Clay	Silvia Farina Elia	Gisela Dulko Patricia Tarabini	3–6 6–2 6–1
4.	26 February 2005	Doha	Hard	Alicia Molik	Cara Black Liezel Huber	6–3 6–4
5.	25 February 2006	Dubai	Hard	Květa Peschke	Svetlana Kuznetsova Nadia Petrova	3–6 7–6 6–3
6.	1 October 2006	Luxembourg City	Hard Indoors	Květa Peschke	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Liezel Huber	2–6 6–4 6–1
7.	15 October 2006	Moscow	Carpet	Květa Peschke	Iveta Benešová Galina Voskoboeva	6–4 6–7 6–1
8.	October 3, 2009	Tokyo, Japan	Hard (i)	Alisa Kleybanova	Daniela Hantuchová Ai Sugiyama	6–4, 6–2

Singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

NM5				means an event that is neither a Premier Mandatory nor a Premier 5 tournament

Tournament	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	Career SR	Career W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	1R	3R	1R	2R	3R	4R	2R	3R	1R	4R	QF	0 / 11	18–11
French Open	A	A	A	A	LQ	QF	3R	2R	4R	4R	4R	3R	3R	1R	W		1 / 11	22–10
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	LQ	2R	2R	3R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	QF	1R		0 / 11	11–11
US Open	A	A	A	LQ	3R	1R	4R	QF	4R	3R	3R	2R	2R	4R	QF		0 / 11	24–11
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	A	Not Held			A	Not Held			QF	Not Held			3R	Not Held			0 / 2	5–2
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	RR		0 / 1	1–2
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	A	3R	2R	3R	2R	2R	A	3R	4R	1R	3R	4R	0 / 10	9–10
Key Biscayne	A	A	A	A	LQ	1R	2R	2R	4R	3R	2R	2R	2R	2R	3R	4R	0 / 12	10–12
Madrid	Not Held													3R	3R	3R	0 / 3	6–3
Beijing	Not Held								Not Tier I					2R	QF		0 / 2	3–2
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai	Not Held					Not Tier I								2R	2R	3R	0 / 3	3–3
Rome	A	A	LQ	1R	1R	QF	2R	1R	QF	QF	3R	1R	2R	2R	2R	QF	0 / 14	19–14
Cincinnati	Not Held								Not Tier I					1R	2R		0 / 2	0–2
Montreal / Toronto	A	A	A	A	A	A	3R	2R	3R	A	2R	3R	1R	2R	QF		0 / 9	11–9
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	2R	1R	SF		0 / 4	5–4
Former WTA Tier I Tournaments (currently neither Premier Mandatory nor Premier 5 events)
Doha	Not Held					Not Tier I							2R	Not Held		NM5	0 / 1	0–1
Charleston	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	2R	A	NM5			0 / 2	1–2
Moscow	NM5	A	A	A	LQ	QF	A	QF	QF	F	2R	A	1R	NM5			0 / 7	14–7
Berlin	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	2R	A	A	A	1R	2R	Not Held			0 / 5	4–5
Zurich	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	QF	2R	SF	NM5				0 / 4	6–4
San Diego	Not Tier I								1R	3R	A	A	Not Held		NM5		0 / 1	2–0
Career Statistics
Finals Reached	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	3	3	1	0	3	2	0		17
Tournaments Won	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	0		4
Overall Win–Loss	2–3	14–10	26–13	27–17	39–21	33–24	22–24	32–25	38–26	41–23	38–25	29–24	29–24	39–26	41–23	8–7		458–315
Year End Ranking	945	496	295	184	80	30	41	20	19	13	15	25	30	17	7

WTA Tour career earnings

Year	Grand Slam singles titles	WTA singles titles	Total singles titles	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
1998	0	0	0	7,404	371
1999-00	0	0	0	94,673	n/a
2001	0	0	0	216,873	45
2002	0	0	0	245,088	48
2003	0	0	0	392,746	29
2004	0	0	0	459,580	26
2005	0	0	0	528,587	23
2006	0	0	0	730,634	16
2007	0	1	1	549,706	27
2008	0	0	0	531,915	30
2009	0	1	1	831,419	18
2010	1	1	2	2,456,634	6
2011*	0	0	0	447,164	12
Career	1	3	4	7,492,823	32

*As of May. 23, 2011

Head-to-head vs. top 10

Players who have been ranked World No. 1 in boldface

• Ai Sugiyama 6–0
• Elena Dementieva 6–7
• Amélie Mauresmo 5–4
• Patty Schnyder 5–4
• Svetlana Kuznetsova 5–8
• Marion Bartoli 4–1
• Daniela Hantuchová 4–2
• Flavia Pennetta 4–2
• Nadia Petrova 4–2
• Agnieszka Radwańska 4–2
• Amanda Coetzer 3–0
• Nicole Vaidišová 3–1
• Dinara Safina 3–4
• Samantha Stosur 3–5
• Li Na 2–2
• Caroline Wozniacki 2–4
• Serena Williams 2–4
• Kimiko Date Krumm 1–0
• Victoria Azarenka 1–2
• Conchita Martínez 1–2
• / Jelena Janković 1–3
• Alicia Molik 1–3
• Anna Chakvetadze 1–4
• Justine Henin 1–7
• / Jelena Dokić 0–3
• Mary Pierce 0–2
• // Monica Seles 0–2
• Martina Hingis 0–3
• / Ana Ivanović 0–3
• Anastasia Myskina 0–3
• Maria Sharapova 0–3
• Jennifer Capriati 0–4
• Lindsay Davenport 0–5
• Venus Williams 0–7
• Vera Zvonareva 0–9
• Kim Clijsters 0–11

External links

• Francesca Schiavone at the Women's Tennis Association
• SchiavoneFrancesca.com Official website
• Biofile with Francesca Schiavone