2011 Sony Ericsson Open WTA Part 5: Francesca Schiavone
World Number 4 Francesca Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone is currently the fourth-highest ranked tennis player on the Women’s Tennis Association, and the highest-ranked Italian player in the world. She is also the first and only Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, a feat she accomplished
in 2010 with her victory at the French Open in Roland Garros. Her career-high ranking is the same as her current spot on the charts.
Schiavone has been part of the WTA for over twelve years, having joined the circuit in a professional capacity in 1998. The player is famous for all-court playing style, as well as her one-handed backhand. This particular shot has been compared to that of
Justine Henin; however, her forehand is also one of her best shots. The Italian player has made it to the quarterfinals of every Grand Slam tournament, except the French Open where she took away her solo Majors title last year.
The 2000 Miami event was where Schiavone made her event debut, when she was ranked World Number 147. The player could not make it past the qualifying rounds, falling to Belarusian pro Tatiana Poutchek in the third round. Consequently, she could not make
an appearance in the main draw.
Schiavone’s first time as a main draw entry at Miami was in 2001, when her ranking had risen to World Number 79. Despite the improvement, she was ousted in straight sets by Spanish pro Marta Marrero in the first round.
The Italian’s first showing as a seeded player was in the following year, 2002. She was ranked World Number 26 by this time, and received a bye in the first round of the tournament to play her first match in the second round. She was defeated in straight
sets by Slovak pro Tina Pisnik.
Schiavone’s best performance at the tournament was in 2004, when she was ranked World Number 21. She received a bye into the second round, where she took Lubomira Kurhajcova down in straight sets. Her third round opponent was American pro Lisa Raymond, who
was seeded 20th at the Miami tournament. Although the Italian player managed to defeat her as well, she could not make it past her fourth round match against second seed Venus Williams.
Her last performance at the event was in 2010, when she was ranked World Number 17. She received a bye in the first round as one of the seeds, and came up against French pro Alize Cornet in the second round. Although she defeated her to reach the thrd round,
she was ousted by twenty-second seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at this stage.
Schiavone has posted good results at this year’s tournament so far, reaching the third round of the event just today. It remains to be seen whether or not she can outdo last year’s run at the event.
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