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Date: 06 Jun 2010 10:38

Schiavone Completes Dream Run, Wins French

Tennis World Magazine Tennis News Schiavone Completes Dream Run, Wins French Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman in history to win a Grand Slam title on Saturday when she beat Sam Stosur 6-4, 7-6 in the French Open final. It was a tightly contested affair throughout, and Stosur looked as if she might force a third set when she went up a break in the second. However, Schiavone broke back and eventually clinched the tie-break to make history and upset the bookmakers. The number 17 seed wasn’t even in the discussion of possible champions when the tournament started two weeks ago, but upstaged all her more credentialed rivals with some incredible victories. "I always believe in myself," she said afterwards. "Not about the trophy or the tournament, but just in myself. I think this was the key to everything. I´m so happy. I´m really so happy. I prepared the final mentally and tactically very well. I was so concentrated on my serve. I tried not to look anywhere but just to feel my play and try to be aggressive as much as I could." Stosur can console herself with the knowledge that her run to the final will allow her to stay in the Top 10 for some time to come, and she will now be considered a legitimate threat going into Wimbledon and the US Open. She beat both Justine Henin and Serena Williams on her way to the championship match, but admitted that Schiavone was just too much for her on the day. "I still don´t think I played that bad. She just had her day. She went for it and everything came off. It takes guts to do that, and she did it."