Francesca Schiavone Wins French Open 2010 by defeating Samantha Stosur

Francesca Schiavone had a very food day in Paris. Not only did the ten year professional stake claim to the coveted Roland Garros Championship but her spirited play ignited the packed house. There are certainly more Parisians that admire the 5’5 Italian than before the match.

Most tennis fans did not believe that Francesca was capable of the level of play she executed on Saturday. Her step had bounce, her serve was better than ever and her tactics were aggressive throughout the spellbinding match.

Primarily known as a bump and grind player, Francesca came out of her shell against the favored Aussie. Stosur, who played well, seemed to be playing not to lose. Francesca was playing to win. Her convincing 6-4, 7-6(2) win was as close to flawless as Francesca will ever be.

Stosur had taken out Belgian favorite Justine Henin and top seed Serena Williams and 4th seed Jalena Jankovic to earn her berth in the finals. In those matches, she was the underdog. On Saturday, her resume made her the strong favorite.

But, Schiavone forced Stosur to hit more backhands than she wanted and the Italian showed a net game that other players had not displayed. Francesca said she did not have a game plan before the match but she certainly found one quickly against the hard serving Stosur. She used her top spin ground strokes to consistently pin Stosur in the backhand court. Other players had been unable to stay away from the deadly Stosur forehand.

Stosur looked invincible in her first two service games, which she won at love. Francesca was holding serve but Samantha seemed on the verge of breaking through each time the Italian had the serve.

It was Stosur who blinked first. Francesca, the longshot 17th seed, broke in the ninth game of the first set and then served out for the first set. Stosur had lost a first set to Henin and a second set to Williams and seemed ready to rally again when she grabbed an early break in the second set. She followed the break with a clean service game to take the 4-1 lead.

Francesca held and then broke back in game seven to square the set. Both players held serve to 6-6. The weight of the stakes seemed to overwhelm the Australian. Meanwhile, Francesca saw the light at the end of the tunnel and went for it as Samantha self destructed.

Francesca can thank her aggressive play, her topspin strokes and her outstanding footspeed for this win. On Saturday at Roland Garros, Francesca Schiavone was the best female tennis player in the world. Kudos!

At age 29, Francesca becomes the second oldest player in the Open era to claim a Grand Slam title. More importantly, Francesca Schiavone is the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam title.

For Stosur, the loss is devastating. She had been on a clay court tear for two months and has more wins than any other tour player. Analysts suggested that she had done the heavy lifting, knocking out both Henin and Williams, but the reality is that Grand Slam Champions have to win seven matches. This year Francesca Schiavone was the only player to win seven matches and she saved her best tennis for the last match.

Congratulations to Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 French Open Champion!

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