Schiavone says goodbye to tennis
News & Trends •
schiavone won the 2010 french open as the no. 17 seed beating li na maria kirilenko caroline wozniacki and elena dementieva before defeating samantha stosur 6-4 7-6 2 in the final. at the time schiavone was just shy of 30 years old and had never advanced to a grand slam semifinal in her previous 38 majors1 former french open champion francesca schiavone who once reached a career-best ranking of no. 4 has announced her retirement from tennis at the u.s. open1 because my head when i arrive here says please go to the court fight because i can beat many other players1 but my heart says that i am at peace like this that i am very happy about my career my life and everything1 schiavone 38 hangs up her racket with eight singles titles three fed cup championships for italy a 614-479 singles record a 105-69 showing in grand slam singles events and more than 11 million in prize money1 when i was 18 years old i had two dreams schiavone said on wednesday. the first one was to win roland garros and the second one was to become top 10 in the world. and i completed them so im very very happy and lucky1 i arrive at this decision to say goodbye to the tennis with my heart said an emotional schiavone who became the first italian woman to win a grand slam when she captured the 2010 french open1 schiavone was also successful on the doubles circuit winning seven wta titles and reaching the semifinals at all four grand slam tournaments1 after 20 years of career and life i have new dreams said schiavone who added shed like to return to the u.s. open and other events as a coach1 schiavone who is 3-9 this season and has watched her ranking fall to 454th won the longest grand slam womens singles match outdueling svetlana kuznetsova 6-4 1-6 16-14 in 4 hours 44 minutes in the fourth round of the 2011 australian open1 schiavones last match was a 6-3 6-2 loss to stosur in the round of 32 at the ladies championships at gstaad switzerland in mid-july1 i look sad but i am happy too schiavone said during the news conference. tonight i will drink a good champagne for sure1