Schiavone wins the French Open women’s title

Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman ever to win a Grand Slam.  The 17th seed went unnoticed into the final and then all but dominated the 7th seed Samantha Stosur who has been grabbing headlines all tournament. 

Stosur defeated two former world No. 1 players and the current No. 1 player in the world on her way to the final.  Once there, she was simply outplayed from the start.  Only when she broke Schiavone’s serve for the first time early in the 2nd set, did it appear she had a chance.  Schiavone had other thoughts.

After not facing a break point in the first set, Schiavone’s serve was finally broken in the 2nd set and she found herself down 4-1.  Not to be denied, she tied the set at 4-4, then went on to rule the tiebreak.

This was the first time since 1933 that a player not ranked in the top-10 has won the French Open.