Francesca Schiavone is the ultimate proof that tennis is not necessarily a young person’s game. She won her maiden slam at Roland Garros last year, two weeks before she turned 30 and is undoubtedly playing the best tennis of her career at an age when most peers are considering retirement.
Before the 2010 French Open Schiavone had played 38 slams and reached three quarter finals. This record suggests not only that she was a surprise winner, but also that longevity is a worthy trait – those 38 appearances were consecutive, so injuries have never been an issue for this well-prepared athlete. Those looking at the in-play betting should remember this.
Schiavone has struggled to maintain the form she found in Paris last summer, although a rise to fourth in the rankings proves her consistency – another key factor in her success. Indeed, the Italian’s outstanding performance this season, a four hour and 44 minute, 47-game marathon against Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Australian Open, was her career in microcosm – dogged and durable.
A quarter final advantage of a set and a break against Caroline Wozniacki was not capitalised on, with tiredness a justified excuse for defeat. Schiavone might well out-last some big names at Roland Garros, but it would be a major surprise if she was to go all the way again, as the latter stages of events have generally proved a step too far. As online betting tips go, she isn’t the best.
It is unwise to write-off the game’s great survivor, but a straight sets hammering from Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round in Stuttgart last week did not bode well.
