Francesca Schiavone the underdog in French Open final
Two weeks ago, few would have predicted that Francesca Schiavone would have been just one win away from becoming a Grand Slam champion.
But now the French Open field has been whittled down to just two, there the Italian is.
The 29-year-old will enter Saturday’s final against seventh seed Sam Stosur as the underdog, but it’s a label that should suit Schiavone down to the red dirt beneath her feet.
The 17th seed has already ousted three higher-seeded opponents from Roland Garros, starting with 11th seed and Australian Open semi-finalist Na Li in the third round.
Schiavone, who hasn’t dropped a set since her first round match against 70th ranked Regina Kulikova, then turned her attention to 30th seed Maria Kirilenko in the fourth round. The Russian had just defeated defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in her previous match, but that didn’t seem to matter to the world No. 17, who won the match 6-4, 6-4.
That victory propelled Schiavone into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the fourth time in her career and a date with third seed Caroline Wozniacki.
The Dane had been in strong form on the faster American clay courts before injuring her ankle in the semi-finals of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, but after struggling on the European clay during the spring, was moving well at the French Open.
It didn’t matter. In a tactically masterful performance, Schiavone played with aggression and her customary variety to dump last year’s US Open runner-up out of the draw in Paris and reach the semi-finals of a major for the first time in her career.
Next up, the 11th match of her career against Elena Dementieva, who as it turned out, virtually entered the final four on one leg but before the world No. 5 defaulted after losing the first set in a tiebreak, Schiavone had been treating the crowd to some superb defensive tennis as she ultimately gained the ascendency in the match.
There were no signs of nerves from Schiavone in the biggest match of her career so far, and for the second time in as many days she had cause to kiss the court at Roland Garros.
Stosur may have proved an irresistible force against Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic, but that won’t mean anything to Schiavone when the first ball is served in the final.
After all, she’s been defying the odds all tournament.
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