Schiavone Wins French, Becomes Most Shocking Slam Winner in Recent Memory

In the first final between two first-time slam finalists since 2004, #17-seed Francesca Schiavone stunned #7 Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6(2) to win the 2010 French Open Women's Singles championship.

Schiavone, who turns 30 later this month, had previously only won three titles in her 10+ years on the WTA Tour, none of which were more prestigious than a Tier III.  She had never before made it to the final four of a grand slam singles draw either, but once she arrived into the second week of Roland Garros her game reached a level it never before had.

Schiavone's road to the title was by no means a cakewalk, but it was not a minefield, either.  In facing Wozniacki, Dementieva, and Stosur in her final three matches, Schiavone faced no one with a tremendous winning percentage in the late stages of a slam.  None of her seven opponents had ever won a slam title, and only one (Dementieva) had made a final previously.

But winning a slam is just about winning seven matches in a row, and Schiavone was the only one of the 128 players in the Women's Singles Draw to do so.

Tennis is not golf, where players come out of nowhere to win important tournaments then fade back into obscurity just as quickly.  Winners like Lucas Glover, Michael Campbell, and Shaun Micheel don't happen in tennis, in large part because its head-to-head nature, which stops players from flying under the radar through an entire tournament.

So is Schiavone the most surprising women's Grand Slam winner of this century? I'd have to say so.  Going back further, the only other contender in this category that comes to mind is Iva Majoli, who won the French Open in 1997 by shocking Martina Hingis in the final.  But Majoli had won several prestigious titles previously in her career, whereas Schiavone had not.

Schiavone has been consistent of late (making the second week of four consecutive majors now), but for a journeywoman to break through like this so late in her career is nearly unheard of.

How late in Schiavone's career is this? To put it in perspective: Schiavone is even older than Martina Hingis, the woman who Iva Majoli beat to win Roland Garros back in 1997.

For Stosur (who ironically beat Schiavone in the first round of the 2009 French Open), this tournament can only be seen as a massive positive.  To beat Justine Henin, Serena Williams, and Jelena Jankovic back-to-back in a grand slam is an absurd feat, and her stock only appears to rising.  (Plus she comes off as classy to a nearly unparalleled degree in her post-match press conference).

I'm not as sure as everyone else seems to be about her momentum translating fluidly onto the grass of Wimbledon, though.  I talked to Rennae Stubbs, Stosur's former doubles partner, about how Stosur's game translates onto the lawns during an interview with The Daily Forehand last summer.

TDF: Were you surprised that she got knocked out by Ivanovic at Wimbledon?

Rennae Stubbs: No, look, grass is her worst surface.  It doesn’t lend itself…

TDF: But she’s a serve and volley…

Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, but she’s not a real serve and volley player—there’s big misconceptions about Sam.  She’s more a slow court, hard court player, a clay courter.  For one thing, her grip is very western on her forehand, and it’s very difficult to play that type of tennis on grass.  Her kick serve is not effective on grass, as it is on every other surface.  So, you know, the basis of her game is her serve, her kick serve, and her forehand, and those things don’t lend itself that great to grass.

Having said that, I think she can do a lot better on grass, I think she will learn over the years to do better on grass, and I think she did better this year.  But she’s going to be more of a force on a hard court, or on a clay court, than on a grass court.

If she's not justifiably burnt out, no reason why Schiavone couldn't make a run on the grass, either. She made the quarterfinals last year, and the serve and net skills she showed in Saturday's final bode well for a smooth transition.