Former champion Schiavone qualifies at Roland Garros

Francesca Schiavone could have called it a career many times, and been loudly celebrated for her 20 years on tour. But instead, the 37-year-old is still chasing her dreams in Paris this week.

Ranked No. 265, Schiavone had to endure three rounds of qualifying to secure her spot in the draw of a Grand Slam she won in 2010. It's the first time in 18 years—when she made her French Open debut in 2000—that she's had to play qualifying.

In 2010, Schiavone was well on her way to a career peak that saw her reach No. 4 in the world. In the French Open final, the No. 17 seed took out Samantha Stosur in straight sets. She was the first Italian woman to win a Slam and the first woman in the Open era to win in Paris while seeded outside of the Top 10.

The eight-time WTA champion has slowly been slipping in the past four years, pushed further down by injuries including an ankle injury suffered in a freak accident when she stepped on a ball.

She was still ranked inside the Top 100 to start 2018 until losing a lot of points—including her Bogota title defense—after not playing between an early loss in Indian Wells and Rome. Schiavone entered the French Open having played just one match on European clay, a first-round loss at the Italian Open.

She has found new life at the site of her greatest career triumph. On Friday, she swept aside No. 10-seeded Evgeniya Rodina, 6-0, 6-1 for a main-draw berth.

ROLAND GARROS QUALIFYING (5/21-5/25)

-Tennis Channel Plus features up to 10 courts of live action from Roland Garros Qualifying beginning Monday May 21 at 4:00am ET

ATP ROME

-Miss any of the action from Internazionali BNL d'Italia? Catch up and watch all your favorite ATP stars anytime and on-demand on Tennis Channel Plus

*Matches subject to change

To get Tennis Channel Plus, go to BuyTCPlus.com