Francesca Schiavone

2010: First Major Title at Roland Garros

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

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

Seeded 17th entering the 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). There she defeated world No. 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 Joe Fernández, 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 No. 5 and 2004 finalist Dementieva (she retired in the second set with a torn calf muscle having lost the first set in a tiebreaker), and 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 No. 1 Serena Williams and world No. 4 Janković en-route to the final, Stosur was considered a heavy favorite-. However, on 5 June 2010, Schiavone defied expectations to become the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, beating Stosur 6–4, 7–6.^[5] The victory made her only the third Italian player to win a Grand Slam event in singles, after Nicola Pietrangeli and Adriano Panatta. She also became the oldest woman to win a first Grand Slam title in the Open Era, beating the previous record by Jana Novotná.^[6] The victory also meant she rose to No. 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 was Eastbourne, where she lost in the first-round to Sorana Cîrstea 5–7, 3–6. As the fifth seed at Wimbledon, due to the pre-tournament withdrawal of Dementieva, she lost to Vera Dushevina in the first round 7–6, 5–7, 1–6.

Schiavone reached the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup, where she fell to top seed Caroline Wozniacki. She was the sixth seed at the US Open, and 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 No. 3 seed Venus Williams 6–7, 4–6.

As the fifth seed, Schiavone reached the semifinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, where she fell to seventh seed Elena Dementieva. At the season-ending Tour Championships, Schiavone competed for the first time in her career but was eliminated in the round-robin stage. She fell to Caroline Wozniacki in three sets, and Sam Stosur in two sets before defeating Elena Dementieva in what would be Dementieva's final career match.

2011

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

Seeded sixth at the Australian Open, Schiavone advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in her career upon a victory over 23rd-seeded and two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. The fourth-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. In the quarterfinal against world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, Schiavone was a set and 3–1 up in the second set, but was broken twice by Wozniacki in the same set and twice in the third, to lose 6–3, 3–6, 3–6 after saving three match points.

At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Schiavone was seeded third, but fell in the round of 16 to Kuznetsova. At the Qatar Ladies Open in Doha, she fell to Peng Shuai in the round of 16. She then fell to eventual champion Jelena Dokic at the Malaysian Open. Schiavone then reached the round of 16 again at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, falling to Shahar Pe'er. Seeded fifth at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, she reached the round of 16, losing to Agnieszka Radwańska.

Schiavone began her clay-court season with a round of 16 loss to Radwańska at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. She then reached the round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open, falling to Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Following Madrid, Schiavone then reached the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, losing to world No. 7 Sam 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 Brussels Open, the last tournament before the French Open.

Schiavone was the fifth seed and defending champion at the French Open. She beat Melanie Oudin, Vesna Dolonts, 29th seed Peng Shuai, tenth seed Jelena Janković, 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and 11th seed Marion Bartoli to reach the final. In the final, she lost to Li Na, 4–6, 6–7.^[7][8]

She then switched to the grass courts, falling to Agnieszka Radwańska at the Aegon International in her only Wimbledon warmup. She was the sixth seed at the Wimbledon Championships, losing in the third round to Tamira Paszek of Austria.^[9]

During the Rogers Cup, Schiavone won her opening-round match against Ekaterina Makarova but fell in the third round to Lucie Šafářová.

The Western & Southern Open saw another early round loss for Schiavone. It took her three sets to defeat Maria Kirilenko in her opening round match. She then lost to former world No. 1 Jelena Janković in a third round three-setter.

Just before the US Open Schiavone entered the New Haven Open. She defeated Alexandra Dulgheru and Monica Niculescu in the first two rounds. Her quarterfinal match against Anabel Medina Garrigues was a walkover. Schiavone was defeated by world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets in the semifinals.

At the US Open, she reached the fourth round where she lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. At the China Open Schiavone emerged victorious in the first round against Bojana Jovanovski but was then defeated in the second round by Dominika Cibulková.

2012

Schiavone started at the Brisbane International as the fourth seed where she reached the semifinals, beating Jelena Janković en route 5–7, 7–6, 6–3 (she saved 2 m.p's at 6–5 down second set) before losing to eventual champion Kaia Kanepi 3–6, 0–6 in a lackluster performance. She then played at the Apia International in Sydney where she defeated sixth seed Sam Stosur in the first round 6–2, 6–4 before losing to Daniela Hantuchová 5–7, 1–6.

As the 11th seed at the Australian Open, Schiavone was upset in the second round by fellow Italian Romina Oprandi 6–3, 6–4.

Schiavone struggled whilst representing Italy at Fed Cup versus Ukraine, losing to a non-top-100 player Lesia Tsurenko comprehensively 1–6, 2–6 and barely getting past Kateryna Bondarenko 6–7, 7–5, 6–4. Despite her struggles, Italy still managed to progress through to the semifinals.

Schiavone played in the mini gulf series in Doha and Dubai losing early in both of them as the seventh seed; Doha in the second round to Yanina Wickmayer 4–6, 6–7 and in her Dubai opener to Ana Ivanovic 1–6, 5–7.

At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, she (as 10th seed) avenged her Fed Cup loss by beating Lesia Tsurenko 6–2, 6–4 before retiring against Lucie Šafářová in the third round after losing the first set 6–2. With the same seeding in Miami, she lost to Ksenia Pervak 4–6, 6–4, 4–7 in her opener, blowing a 3–0 final-set lead.

After lackluster results, the clay-court season was a chance for Schiavone to get back on form on her favorite surface, but as the top seed at the Barcelona Ladies Open, her poor form continued as she lost to Olga Govorstova 4–6, 3–6 in her opening match. She represented Italy in Fed Cup semifinals against Czech Republic, losing both of her matches to Lucie Šafářová 6–7, 1–6 and to Petra Kvitová 4–6, 6–7. Italy lost the tie 1–4. After passing her opening round in Stuttgart against Monica Niculescu, she lost in the second round to No. 3 seed Petra Kvitová 2–6, 2–6. She also lost her opener in Madrid to Varvara Lepchenko and Rome to Ekaterina Makarova. However, Schiavone finally found some form going into the French Open, winning Strasbourg by defeating Sloane Stephens and Alizé Cornet in the semifinals and finals, respectively.

Schiavone reached the third round of French Open 2012, where she lost to Varvara Lepchenko 6–3, 3–6, 6–8.^[10]

At Wimbledon she reached the fourth round before losing to Petra Kvitová in three sets, but managed to reach the semifinals in doubles with partner Flavia Pennetta. Schaivone won her opening match at the Olympics and was then ousted in the second round by Vera Zvonareva.

Seeded 22nd, Schiavone faced off against Sloane Stephens in the first round of the US Open and lost in straight sets. Schiavone then competed at the Toray Pan Pacific Open where she defeated Yaroslava Shvedova in the first round but then lost to Sam Stosur. She then suffered three consecutive first-round losses to Li Na at Beijing, to Olga Puchkova at Osaka and to Urszula Radwańska at Moscow.

Since 2013

2014 US Open

Schiavone has remained in the top 100 and in 2013 she won the Marrakech Grand Prix, defeating Lourdes Domínguez Lino. Her best results in 2014 were semifinal appearances in Baku and Hong Kong; however, she struggled with a right shoulder injury throughout the season. Her best result in 2015 came at the Diamond Games, where she qualified for the main draw and defeated world No. 10 Angelique Kerber to reach the quarterfinals. She later reached the third round at the French Open, winning a marathon match against fellow former French Open champion Kuznetsova. However, she dropped out of the top 100 following a first-round loss at the US Open to Yanina Wickmayer. In 2016, Schiavone won Rio Open by defeating Shelby Rogers in the final and ended her title drought since winning at Marrakech in 2013.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	2010	French Open	Clay	Samantha Stosur	6–4, 7–6(7–2)
Runner-up	2011	French Open	Clay	Li Na	4–6, 6–7(0–7)

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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