As a continuation of the season-long "Decade's Best" look back at the soon-to-conclude "20-teens" (here's the final Australian Open DB post and the most recently updated list of qualifiers for Players of the Decade), it's time to begin the countdown of the year-by-year RG thumbnail tournament sketches, leading up to selecting the Top 10 players (and other stuff) for all the happenings in Paris from 2010-19.
First up, a look back at the 2010 edition...
In one fell swoop, Schiavone's 6-4/7-6(2) win over Samantha Stosur in the women's final made her the first female Italian slam champion (none had reached a final, and the last semifinalist was in 1954), the first woman in the Open era to win in Paris while ranked outside the Top 10 (#17), the oldest first-time major champ (29 years and 347 days, some three months older than '98 Wimbledon winner Jana Novotna) and the woman with the second longest wait (her 39th major, behind Novotna's 45) before winning a slam.
Schiavone's win was a forerunner to the decade's other late-blooming champions. Three of her four-time Fed Cup winning teammates -- Sara Errani ('12 RG), Roberta Vinci ('15 U.S.) and Flavia Pennetta ('15 U.S.) -- also reached slam finals, with Pennetta winning to become the *new* oldest (33) maiden major winner. Schiavone reached another final in Paris in 2011. Three players won slams later in their careers, with Pennetta (49th event, the new record), Marion Bartoli (47th at '13 Wimbledon) and Caroline Wozniacki (43rd at '18 AO) all surpassing Schiavone on the all-time list; while Alona Ostapenko broke the Italian's record by winning RG in 2017 when ranked #47.
One of Schiavone's "first/last" marks remains, though. Thirty-five slams later (and with just three champions left to be crowned in the decade), she's the last woman armed with a one-handed backhand to win a major title.
While Stosur didn't win her maiden slam crown in Paris in 2010 (she would a season later at the U.S. Open), her run was quite remarkable. While becoming the first Aussie woman to reach a slam final since 1980, she defeated future #1/RG champ Simona Halep in her slam debut, ended former #1/RG champ Justine Henin's 24-match winning streak in Paris (ultimately ending her RG career) in the 4th Round, and upset world #1 Serena Williams in the QF (saving a MP) to become the first Australian woman to post a #1 victory in a slam since 1999.
A year before losing to Schiavone in the Roland Garros final, Stosur has defeated the Italian 6-4/6-2 in the 1st Round in Paris in 2009.
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None of the 2010 RG singles semifinalists had previously won a major title, making it the first time that had occurred in a slam since the 1979 Australian Open. One of those semifinalists was Elena Dementieva, who retired from her match vs. Schiavone. It would be the Russian's last of nine SF-or-better slam results (she reached two finals in '04). She advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open in the summer and played in her last singles final (her 32nd) in Tokyo that fall, then shocked many by publicly announcing her retirement from the sport at age 29 following her final round robin match (a loss to Schiavone on Day 4) at the WTA Championships. She never won a major title, but was an Olympic singles Gold medalist in 2008 in Beijing when Hordettes swept the WS medal stand.
Schiavone vs. Stosur represented the first time two first-time slam finalists had faced off since Roland Garros in 2004 (Myskina def. Dementieva).
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Playing in her first Roland Garros since 2007, back-from-retirement four-time RG champ Justine Henin reached the Round of 16, where she saw her 24-match tournament winning streak ended by Stosur. Her streak remains the third-longest by a woman in Paris behind only Chris Evert (29) and Monica Seles (25).
The Belgian would injure her elbow at Wimbledon a month later and would announce her final retirement following the Australian Open in January 2011. Henin's final win at Roland Garros was a 3rd Round victory over Maria Sharapova. The Russian ended the Waffle's 40-set RG streak in the match, but ultimately saw Henin rally from 0-2, love/40 down in the 3rd set to win, converting on her fifth MP.
Meanwhile, in the same event in which Henin saw her RG legacy come to an end, a player who idolized her -- Simona Halep -- saw hers begin. The Romanian, the '08 girls champ, qualified to reach her first slam MD, where she too lost to Stosur. Halep has since completed back-to-back #1 seasons in 2017 and '18, and in the latter year finally won her long-awaited maiden slam crown in Paris.
In a 2nd Round match, Svetlana Kuznetsova did what she's always done in her career, experiencing a "whole life in a day" vs. Andrea Petkovic. In a match that included several rain delays, Petkovic had served for the win at 6-4/5-4, 40/love. Kuznetsova eventually saved four MP before winning on her own fourth MP, 4-6/7-5/6-4.
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In just her third career slam singles MD, 24-year old South African qualifier Chanelle Scheepers reached the Round of 16. She's the only player from her nation -- as well as the entire continent -- to advance so far in a major during the decade. Scheepers retired in 2015, having reached a pair of tour-level singles finals (winning in Guangzhou in '11, losing in Bastad in '14) in her career but only advancing to the 3rd Round twice more (both in 2011) in the remaining nineteen slam MD in which she appeared.
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After reaching the singles final in 2008 and '09, Dinara Safina was upset in the 1st Round by Kimiko Date-Krumm, who as 39 became the second oldest woman (V.Wade '85) to win a Roland Garros MD match. Safina had led 4-1 in the 3rd set, but ultimately went down to defeat in a match in which she had 17 DF. For Date it was her first slam win since the 1996 Wimbledon.
The Russian never played in Paris again, and never won another slam match (0-2). The former world #1's final year on tour was 2011, but she didn't officially retire until 2014.
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Venus and Serena Williams won the women's doubles title, claiming their fourth consecutive major title and 12th slam crown with a 6-2/6-3 victory over Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik. They both rose to the co-#1 doubles position for the first time after the tournament, a spot they held for the next eight weeks. Playing sparingly, they've added just two more WD majors since, at Wimbledon in 2012 and '16.
Srebotnik also reached the Mixed doubles final, winning her third career RG MX crown and her second with Nenad Zimonjic (2006).
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Dutch wheelchair great Esther Vergeer took the women's singles title (the 15th major win of her career) with a double-bagel win over countrywoman Sharon Walraven. Vergeer had opened play in the tournament with a 1st Round win over Jiske Griffioen, who'd later go on to reach WC #1 (2015) and win four singles majors.
Vergeer and Walraven lost in the WD final to Aniek Van Koot & Daniela Di Toro (HUN/AUS), ending Vergeer's streak of slam doubles titles at twelve (appearances) dating back to 2005. She'd win the next eight before a loss in the 2012 Wimbledon semis in what was her final slam.
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Elina Svitolina became the first Ukrainian to win the RG girls title, defeating Tunisia's Ons Jabeur in the final. Having risen as high as #3 on the WTA tour as a pro, Svitolina has still yet to reach a slam semifinal. No player in tour history has won more singles titles (13) than she without at least one such result in a major. In the RG quarterfinals in 2017, Svitolina led Halep 6-3/5-1 and twice served for the match, then after failing to convert a MP in a 2nd set TB lost a love 3rd set to the Romanian in a mere twenty minutes.
Elsewhere in junior play, future RG champ (2016) Garbine Muguruza qualified to reach the girls MD, then lost in the 2nd Round to another Ukrainian, Lyudmyla Kichenok. Jabeur's run to the final included wins over Caroline Garcia (2nd Rd.) and Sloane Stephens (QF), and she teamed in the girls doubles with Nour Abbes to upset the #1-seeded Pliskova twins in the 1st Round.
Timea Babos and Stephens won the junior doubles title, defeating Spaniards Lara Arruabarrena & Maria Teresa Torro Flor in the final. Stephens would go on to reach the women's singles final in 2018.
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Day 6, due to weather delays and a string of suspended matches, produced quite possibly the most star-studded single day schedule in slam history, as pretty much *all* of the greatest players of their generation took to the court on the same afternoon. In action on the women's side were Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova (Kim Clijsters didn't play RG in '10), while the men's schedule saw Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray hit the courts.
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FASHION REPORT: Venus shocked with her corset dress, and flesh-colored/"nude illusion" undergarments...
While Jelena Jankovic positively glowed on her way to the semis...
When (Schiavone) hopped up to shake Stosur's hand at the net, her white shirt was covered in red. On this day, winning a grand slam didn't have to be pretty... even when the new champ's game turned out to be far more beautiful than anyone anticipated.
Over the years, climbing into the stands in celebration of winning a slam title has almost became a rote, forced and unnecessary procedure since Pat Cash impetuously inaugurated the trend at Wimbledon back in 1987. But that wasn't the case with Schiavone's trip to the seats. After climbing over the railing and wading through the stands to get to her cheering section (she was ultimately dragged into it, really), she received a group hug of epic proportions in one of the most heartwarming scenes following any slam in recent memory. Ah, those life-loving Italians.
But the Schiavone scene didn't end there. In the trophy ceremony, she continued to let her joy flag fly.
Singing along with the Italian national anthem (the music was surprisingly monotonous, so I assume the words have great meaning), she flashed the huge smile that once again threatened to steal the world. A few feet away, Stosur, now sans sunglasses, looked down and ahead as she tried very hard to not allow her obvious-in-her-naked-eyes deep emotions of disappointment to consume her. A few moments later, while addressing the crowd, Schiavone turned to the Aussie and told her to not feel too sad, saying, "You are young. You can do it." Even after substituting her opponent's dream with her own, Schiavone was still able to make her (finally) flash a smile. Stosur seemed to be thankful for the moment of relief... even if in the back of her mind, she might have been thinking that she's only three years younger than the "old" Italian.
In between hugging and lovingly kissing the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen as if the occasion was the reuniting of herself with a long lost child she never knew she had, Schiavone still managed to grab the microphone one last time to thank trophy presenter Mary Pierce (it's the tenth anniversary of her RG title), telling her how much she loved her and was glad that she was there. The Frenchwoman seemed truly touched by the unexpected gratitude.
Sometimes, you can almost viscerally sense the moment when a player becomes something more in everyone's mind's eye from that day forward and forever. Anyone who watched Jana Novotna cry on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent could never be an uninterested bystander the rest of her career. Even more than her heroic play today, it was Schiavone's oh-so-thankful, oh-so-joyful, oh-so-life-affirming post-match moments that served as the moment for the Italian and anyone who was watching her. Nasty comments, intense rivalries and in-your-face outbursts often garner the most headlines in tennis, but it's the small, more intimate moments like this that make a player go from a familiar name to a person that you can't help but want to see succeed. Needless to say, it was a nice change.
Two weeks ago, you would have been thought demented to say it: "Francesca Schiavone is the champion of Roland Garros." Now, you would be called a crazy genius. Wonders never cease.
* - "I never believe I've lost until I'm shaking hands. And sometimes I don't believe it then, either." -- Serena Williams
* - "After Miami, she just felt like I wasn't good enough to play with anymore." -- Cara Black, on Liezel Huber
* - "Whenever we mentioned something about the #1 ranking Cara would just tighten up. For me it was never 'Liezel Huber the #1 player.' But I felt for her it was 'Cara Black the #1 player.' Who cares what the ranking is?" -- Liezel Huber, on Cara Black
Just weeks before the 2010 RG (in April), the doubles duo of Black and Huber had suffered a nasty break-up after a five-year stretch that saw the pair win four majors (in seven finals), claiming three-fourths of a Career Doubles Slam (coming up just a 2005 RG final loss short), along with two WTA Championship crowns and 28 total WTA titles. Neither ever won an elusive first RG doubles title, though Black did complete a Career Mixed Doubles Slam.
* - "I wasn't like this ten years ago. I decided to express myself, to be free, to be able to share my joy. Why not? When you give, you also can receive. If you remain closed, there's no exchange. I love to exchange. I love to give." -- Francesca Schiavone
Nearly a decade later, the memory of Schiavone's title in Paris *still* can't help but put a smile on the face of even those with the hardest of hearts.
I'll pick up the series with a look back at 2011, as well as all the years that followed, once play begins at Roland Garros. Until then...
