{"id":292,"date":"2016-09-12T11:29:51","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T15:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/?p=292"},"modified":"2016-09-18T11:19:01","modified_gmt":"2016-09-18T15:19:01","slug":"schiavone-retire-despite-early-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2016\/09\/12\/schiavone-retire-despite-early-losses\/","title":{"rendered":"Francesca Schiavone Should Not Retire Despite Early Grand Slam Losses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Francesca Schiavone’s<\/strong> 6-1 6-2 loss in the opening round of the US Open<\/strong> was her third consecutive first round loss at a Grand Slam. All of them\u00a0have come\u00a0in straight sets, against Svetlana Kuznetsova<\/strong> in New York<\/strong>, Simona Halep<\/strong> at Wimbledon<\/strong> and Kiki Mladenovic<\/strong> at Roland Garros<\/strong>. Moreover, earlier this year, she lost in the second qualifying round at the Australian Open<\/strong> against French veteran Virginie Razzano<\/strong>. In Melbourne<\/strong>, Schiavone was attempting to become the player with the most back to back appearances at slams<\/a>, beating Ai Sugiyama<\/strong>\u2019s record. She was denied a wild card and felt the pressure, failing to obtain what she had dreamed of.<\/p>\n

Schiavone\u2019s last win at a Grand Slam happened in Paris<\/strong> last year. She beat Kuznetsova 10-8 in the decider after a crazy match, showing tremendous fight. Roland Garros is a Slam which Francesca Schiavone is clearly attached to. She won that major in 2010 \u2013 becoming the first Italian to win a Grand Slam. She reached the final the following year, when Li Na<\/strong> denied her the title defence. Therefore, it is clearly frustrating for a former champion, not only not being able to win Slam matches anymore, but also the difficulty in putting up a fight. All of her major losses since Wimbledon 2015 \u2013 where she won a set against Sara Errani<\/strong> \u2013 came in easy straight sets.<\/p>\n

Age is just a number<\/h2>\n

Schiavone was born in 1980, with maths clearly stating that she is now 36. On the WTA tour, only Venus Williams<\/strong> is older than the Italian – by\u00a0just six days! At the age of 36, retirement must be a considerable option. Perhaps not if you\u2019re still in the top ten in the rankings as the American is, but definitely if you struggle to stay in the top #100.<\/p>\n

The majority of journalists seemed quite sure she would quit after breaking Sugiyama\u2019s record, and when she failed they were ready to say farewell to Francesca Schiavone. The Italian threw the delusion away though, playing tennis once again and in February she even won a WTA tournament in Rio de Janeiro<\/strong>. Her retirement was then expected after the Olympics<\/strong>. During Wimbledon she had\u00a0started working as an pundit for Italian television together with her friend and former tennis player Flavia Pennetta<\/strong>. However, the Italian veteran withdrew from the Olympics, citing the fact that she preferred to improve her ranking by playing minor tournaments during those weeks, and she came to New York determined to do well. The draw was not friendly to Schiavone, since she faced ninth seed Kuznetsova. The match showed an abysmal difference between the two.<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n