Event Guide / History / 2010 Tournament
Rafa's revenge - Dream come true for Schiavone
by Thibaut Fraix-Burnet
Rafael Nadal laid to rest the ghosts of 2009, seizing his fifth French Open crown with a dominant display over Robin Söderling in the final. For Francesca Schiavone meanwhile, the tournament was a dream come true, with the 29-year-old becoming the first Italian ever to win a Grand Slam.
Normal service was resumed. Rafael Nadal – the undisputed King of Clay - regained the Roland Garros crown that is rightfully his. Having lorded it over all-comers between 2005 and 2008, he had to give best to his bitter rival Roger Federer in 2009, but once he was back to full fitness, there was to be no stopping the Majorcan in 2010 as he wrote his names in the annals both of the tournament and of the sport as a whole.
This was Nadal's seventh Grand Slam title, putting the 24-year-old alongside the likes of Mats Wilander, John McEnroe and John Newcombe. And as in 2008, he was streets ahead of the competition, going through the tournament without dropping a set. Nicolas Almagro and Jürgen Melzer got closer than anybody else - within two points, as it happens - but even if they had managed to take a set, no-one would have expected them to kick on against a man who, when he is at his best, is untouchable on clay.
The mark of a champion
Rafa won 22 matches in a row on what is by far and away his favourite surface, winning the first ever "Red Slam" by taking the titles at the Masters 1000 tournaments in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid followed up by the French Open. This despite the fact that he was under enormous pressure, knowing full well that anything less than a perfect clay season would dent the confidence that is so crucial to his game. "It was a difficult year for me the last year and I worked a lot to be here," he said after the final. "I was very nervous during all the tournament, because I knew that I was ready to try to win another time."
Nadal managed to overcome every obstacle that was put in his way, and even exorcised the demons of 2009 by getting his revenge on Robin Söderling. The Swede had already defeated Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, but Rafa soon snuffed out any hope of an upset to record a crushing 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win. "All the tournaments I win give me huge satisfaction, but winning a Grand Slam tournament here in Paris, despite the fact I lost last year because I was not well prepared and I had very low morale last year as well, is ever so special. This time I'm back, and I won. Maybe this is the tournament I most wanted to win." Nadal certainly wanted it, as his seven opponents throughout the fortnight will certainly attest.
Dream comes true for Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone on the other hand was certainly not the favourite coming into the tournament. The diminutive Italian, who measures only 1.66m and a featherweight 64 kg, had enjoyed a modest career up until June 2010, but what she did have was a dream – a golden dream, glistening in the flashlights of an epic victory some day, a dream she kept to herself all these years. "Inside, I really always dreamed this tournament. It's strange to say it, but when I called my Daddy, he said to me: 'I remember you that you always dreamt about this one'. So maybe it was far away in reality, but here (in my heart, it was) never far away."
The dream was indeed never far away. Schiavone worked at it, year after year, out on the courts at tournaments around the world. She occasionally came within touching distance of it, at Roland Garros in 2001 for example when she made the quarter-finals, but all too often it slipped from her grasp far too early, as 17 first or second round defeats at her 39 previous Grand Slam tournaments attest.
But she never game up on her dream. Like her hero, motorcycling world champion Valentino Rossi, she got up to speed at the right time. Heading into the French Open, she was No.17 in the world and coming off victory on the clay in Barcelona.
She took a while to get going in Paris and almost went out with a whimper, Russia's Regina Kulikova taking her to three sets out on Court 16 before the Milan native eventually won 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. A hard-fought 6-4, 6-2 victory over China's Na Li then gave Schiavone the confidence to believe in herself. "When I won that match, I said to myself: 'I think I really can do it'," she said with hindsight.
Love is all around
The quarter-finals saw her drawn against future world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, but this did nothing to blunt Schiavone's attacking instincts, and she wiped the floor with the young Dane 6-2, 6-3.
She edged a first-set tie-break over Elena Dementieva in the semis before the Russian was forced to withdraw with a calf injury, and then came her proudest moment. The final pitted her against Sam Stosur, the other surprise package of the tournament who had eliminated none other than Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic on her way to the title decider. Schiavone was not to be denied however, finally turning her dream into a reality in a display of phenomenal energy, particularly in the second set tie-break, to emerge a 6-4, 7-6 winner.
In many ways, the final was a microcosm of Schiavone's tournament as a whole. Despite the fact that she had no major singles titles to her name prior to June 2010, anyone who had seen her in Fed Cup action for Italy would have been in no doubt as to what she was capable of. She is a player who is full of determination, has an excellent technique and is tactically astute. And above all, she had a dream. "At that moment (when you win), you remember many things, things from when you were young. It's special because it's your space, your time, your opportunity.  I felt alone, but with all the love around me." Proof that love can indeed move mountains - mountains of clay ...
