Francesca Schiavone retires from tennis
"After 20 years of career and life, I have new dreams," says former French Open champion
Wednesday 5 September 2018 20:53, UK
Former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone announced her retirement from tennis on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old Italian, who defeated Samantha Stosur in the 2010 French Open final and was runner-up to Li Na in Paris the following year, won eight titles in her career.
The former world number four has seen her ranking slump to 454 after last winning a match on the main tour at Wimbledon in 2017.
"When I was 18 years old, I had two dreams. First one was to win Roland Garros, and the second was to become top 10 in the world. I accomplished that," she said.
"So I'm very, very happy and lucky that, as we say in Italia, 'It's done. This part is done'.
"After 20 years of career and life, I have new dreams."
Schiavone helped Italy to three Fed Cup titles in 2006, 2009 and 2010 and made the quarter-finals at least at all the Grand Slams.
She also won the longest women's match at a major when she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 1-6 16-14 in the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open.
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