Francesca Schiavone

Francesca Schiavone (Italian pronunciation: [franˈtʃeska skjaˈvoːne]; born 23 June 1980) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She had career-high rankings of world No. 4 in women's singles and No. 8 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Schiavone won eight WTA Tour-level singles titles, achieved at least the quarter-finals in all four majors winning the 2010 French Open, becoming the first Italian woman to win a singles major. To date, Schiavone is the last one-handed backhand player to win a major women's title. Schiavone was also runner-up in singles at the 2011 French Open (failing to defend the title against Li Na), and in women's doubles at the 2008 French Open. She helped Italy win the Fed Cup in 2006, 2009 and 2010, and has the most match wins of any player for the Italian team. Schiavone played the longest ever women's singles match at a major, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–4, 1–6, 16–14 in the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open after 4 hours and 44 minutes.

Schiavone announced her retirement from the sport at the 2018 US Open, and shared aspirations of winning a major as a coach. In April 2021, Schiavone began coaching Petra Martić.