PARIS (AP) – Francesca Schiavone threw uppercuts, put her fists to her face and skipped about the court. And then, when she had won the French Open, she really let her emotions show.
With the performance of a lifetime, Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam title by beating Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the final Saturday.
The tour veteran rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the second set and took the clinching tiebreaker with a succession of brilliant shots.
When she had won, she fell onto her back, then rolled over and kissed the clay. She rose covered with dirt, hugged Stosur and broke into a champion’s grin, then trotted over to the wall behind the baseline and climbed it for a group hug with her supporters.
At 29, Schiavone (pronounced Skee-ah-VOH-nay) became the oldest woman to win her first Grand Slam title since Ann Jones at Wimbledon in 1969 at age 30. She’s the first Italian Grand Slam champion since Adriano Panatta won the French Open men’s title in 1976.