Almost four years have passed since Francesca Schiavone retired from tennis after an illustrious career.
A popular figure on the WTA Tour, the Italian is best known for winning the 2010 French Open, as well as reaching the final of the same tournament a year later. Remembered for her one-handed backhand, her career spanned a total of 22 seasons. She was the first woman from her country to break into the world’s top five and made a staggering 70 Grand Slam main draw appearances over a 20-year period.
Enjoying retirement, Schiavone now has the luxury of watching other players play. Something she is doing at this year’s Wimbledon Championships where she is also playing in the Legends event.
“I have great memories (of Wimbledon),” Schiavone tells Ubitennis. “I walked all the way around the venue and it was like ‘wow.’ I wasn’t able to do this before and now I can do it. I can follow Many younger players, not just the main ones. Wimbledon is very special, I am enjoying it.”
The center of attention for Italian tennis this year at The All England Club has been Jannik Sinner. The world No.13 reached the quarter-finals of the tournament on only his second appearance. Sinner was on the verge of creating a huge upset after leading world No.1 Novak Djokovic by two sets before losing in five. If he had won, he would have been the youngest Wimbledon semi-finalist since 2007.
Despite the disappointment, Schiavone is confident her compatriot is heading in the right direction. He is coached on the Tour by Simone Vagnozzi who has previously mentored 2018 French Open semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato, as well as Stefano Travaglia.
“I think Jannik is growing already,” she said. “He is adding many things such as going to the net. He is working on his serve and I think he is doing a very good job improving.”
Italian tennis is currently thriving, especially on the men’s Tour with Matteo Berrettini also making waves. At present, there are nine players from the country in the world’s top 100 – five on the ATP Tour and four on the WTA Tour.
Now Schiavone wants to help nurture the next generation of players. Revealing to Ubitennis she has a project underway in her native Milan.
“I’m working on it. I’m going to open some courts in Milan to give opportunities to younger players. then from that follows other things,” she said.
“I can’t say anything more now about it at the moment.”
Schiavone already has coaching experience after briefly working alongside former player Caroline Wozniacki back in 2019 during the clay swing.
