Francesca Schiavone

Francesca Schiavone is an Italian former tennis player. Francesca Schiavone began playing tennis at an early age and is now regarded as one of the greatest female tennis players in history. With prestigious titles like Roland Garros and the Fed Cup, she has cemented her place in tennis history.

Winning the French Open in 2010 was one of the highlights of her career. She had to endure another arduous battle with cancer after retiring in 2018.

Early Years and Family Background

Francesca Schiavone was born on June 23rd, 1980, in Milan, Italy.

Luiscita Minelli and Franco Schiovone are his parents.

Luiscita, her mother, used to be a doctor. Her parents are now both retired.

Gabriele, her older brother, is her only sibling.

Many details regarding her personal life are kept under wraps. We know she began playing tennis at the age of ten.

For her, it was love at first sight. She hasn’t looked back since.

Then, when she was 18, she had two dreams: one, to play Roland Garros, and the other, to be among the top ten players in the world.

Later in her life, she would fulfill both of them.

Facts of Francesca Schiavone

Net Worth and Prize money

Francesca Schiavone’s net worth is estimated to be $1 million.

After a long and fulfilling career, Francesca has made enough for herself. Her total prize money is listed as $11,324,245.

But it’s not only the prize money that athletics get. They are backed up by sponsors, brand deals, and endorsements.

Tennis Career

Around 1996, Francesca began competing in the ITF circuit in Italy. Schiavone, too, began her professional career at the age of 18 in 1988.

In 1999, she made her WTA debut and finished the year with a global ranking of 184. The girl was ranked in the top 50 at the start of the 2001 season.

Her ranking jumped to 35 after she advanced to the semifinals of Roland Garros. Winning the WTA doubles was another highlight of the year.

Furthermore, she entered the top 20 in 2003 and remained there until 2010. Francesca became the first Italian woman to win a grand slam when she won the Roland Garros in 2010.

Her childhood desire was to win Roland. After the triumph, tennis fans recall her kissing the court in celebration.

In June of that year, she was ranked no. 6. Francesca holds the record for the longest match ever played at a women’s grand slam.

She and Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open after a game that lasted 4 hours and 44 minutes. Francesca eventually won the match.

She finished second in the 2011 French Open. She earned her career-high ranking of world no. 4 on January 31, 2011.

She began the 2014 season with a personal best of 15 consecutive years in the top 100.

Francesca, on the other hand, announced her retirement at the 2018 US Open. She also stated that as a coach, she hopes to win the Grand Slam.

Return to coaching in 2021

Francesca is returning to the WTA as a coach, according to the newest reports. Petra Martic, a 30-year-old Croatian player, will be her coach. Petra is presently rated 21st in the world.

Retirement Life

It hasn’t been long since her retirement in 2018, yet this incredible woman has accomplished so much in that time!

She was diagnosed with cancer shortly after retiring from tennis. In October 2020, her autobiography was released.

Her hometown of Milan was one of the hardest hit by the 2020 covid epidemic.

Overall, the hurdles remain, but she is tenacious, and we hope she continues to follow her heart throughout her life.

Francesca had been planning to open her restaurant for a long time. In March 2020, this desire became a reality with the opening of Sifa Bistro.

Similarly, she collaborated on this project with her buddy Sileni. The name ‘sifa’ is a combination of their initials.

However, because of the epidemic, it was unable to function fully, so it switched strategies and began selling food like a shop.

Francesca is learning to cook from a chef and even goes out to deliver food to people on occasion.

Hobbies

Francesca enjoys football in addition to tennis. She considers herself to be a true football lover. Her passion for Milan’s inter-club is strong, and she follows them constantly.

She also enjoys writing and has acknowledged to keeping a journal. She enjoys writing prose as well. When she published her biography in 2019, she turned this interest into a true passion.

Francesca enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Dining out with her friends at outstanding restaurants is one of her favorite activities.

Milan is a city full of restaurants, which could be a major motivator. She enjoys music as well as vehicle rides.

Illness: Breast Cancer Battle

There were still a lot of things to accomplish, but Francesca was diagnosed with cancer in 2018. However, she did not reveal this information until she had fully healed.

Francesca had begun to notice some changes in herself while still actively playing, it turned out.

She began to lose weight, but she paid little attention to it. She saw a lymph node in her neck one day.

She had a feeling things weren’t quite right. They confirmed that it was cancer while seeing a doctor.

The sadder part of Francesca’s story is that her mother was also diagnosed with cancer earlier in her life. As a result, her cancer caused havoc in the family.

She recalls feeling as though the world had gone dark after hearing the news.

Except there was no other choice but to fight. She began to feel better after countless chemotherapies and drugs.

She admitted in an interview that her athletic body and strength have evolved with time.

Similarly, her cancer made things more difficult for her.

Schiavone stated she misses her body’s agility and firmness when she was younger.

I jump to collect a leaf from a tree and miss, despite jumping a meter and a half off the ground previously. She announced her full recovery in a video on Twitter on December 13, 2019.

It was the first time anyone had heard of her cancer diagnosis. Her Twitter feed was flooded with heartfelt condolences from players and fans, the majority of whom praised her bravery.

Relationships and Partners

Francesca Schiavone prefers to keep the details of her personal life private. She rarely speaks to the press.

She is also uninterested in gossip and controversies. Regardless, fans enjoy watching and speculating on their favorite athletes’ personal lives.

Francesca could be bisexual or lesbian. However, there are also many fans who believe she is straight.

Francesca has shared photos with women who fans assumed were her partners on several occasions. Well, after all, her sexuality is not our place to comment. We should wait till she reveals something about it.

Book

Francesca Schiavone penned down the stories of her life in her 2020 book.

The book is named ‘La Mia Rinascita,’ which translates to my rebirth: How I faced the toughest game of my life.

Along with her early life and career, the book recollects her battle with cancer.

In this book, Francesca describes her active sports career as her first life.

The former Tennis star was passionate about the game and was crazy good at it too!

Not to mention, Schiavone gave her blood, sweat, and tears to the court, and the court gave her all the titles and awards.

Her diagnosis of cancer and treatment is described as her second life. Indeed, being diagnosed with cancer is a nightmare for all of us mortals. Francesca says this was the most brutal battle she has ever fought.

After successfully recovering, she believes that she has taken a rebirth, starting the third life.

Life might be full of hurdles and setbacks, but there is nowhere else to go but forward. With this reminder, she explains her plans for her new life.

The book was well-received by the audience, who praised it for its honesty.

Readers have said that Francesca’s personal experiences gave them a chance to reflect on their own experiences.

The book was published originally in Italian.

When asked about the English translation of the book for non-Italian fans, she said there was a chance.

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Social Media Presence

There is no better platform for an athlete to connect to their well-wishers than social media.

Francesca is not a heavy social media user, but she gives her fans a little time to update her life journey.

She follows other tennis stars like Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic and non-tennis athletes like LeBron James on Twitter.

Her Instagram has 43.3K followers, her Facebook has 24K followers and her Twitter has 20.1K followers.