The Baseline Player of the Week: Francesca Schiavone

Every week Baseline will select a “Player of the Week.” That athlete may not always win the highest category tournament that week, but perform the best compared to their recent playing history.

Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to ever win a Grand Slam title at the 2010 French Open. She was also the second lowest-ranked woman to win in Paris during the Open Era, further cementing her status as a fan favorite at the major she always dreamed of winning.

“Maybe it was far away in the reality,” the former world No.4-ranked Schiavone said then, gesturing to her heart. “But, here, [it was] never far away.”

Before this week, it looked like Schiavone’s journey to the 2017 French Open main draw, her final appearance at the tournament before retiring, was far away as well. For the first time in 16 years, when she played on the red clay in France for the first time, Schiavone was in jeopardy of having to go through qualifying in Paris.

But the 36-year-old, who was ranked No. 168 and needed a wildcard to enter the Claro Open Colsanitas in Bogota, won the 600th match of her career on the way to capturing the title without dropping a set. The victory, perhaps most importantly, earned her 280 ranking points, moving her to No. 102 and on the fringe of a direct entry into the French Open.

"In this moment I have memories of my championship in Roland Garros," Schiavone said after winning her eighth title. "It was too long since I won a title and I am very pleased to win again. It was a very good tournament for me here in Bogota. I felt very excited to be playing my game."

Schiavone’s game, which seemingly disappeared early in 2017 as she failed to win a main-draw match before arriving in Bogota this week, helped her get past four Top 90 players to capture only her second title since 2013.

Arguably her win of the week came in a 6-1, 6-4 quarterfinal victory against 2016 French Open semifinalist and world No. 20-ranked Kiki Bertens, who had won their only previous meeting in straight sets.

"It wasn't easy at all,” Schiavone said about her match against Bertens, citing lingering neck pain. “I started out in pain and played the match through the pain."

But the veteran showed no ill effects moving forward, beating Johanna Larsson in the semifinal and then Lara Arruabarrena to capture the crown.

And in case you weren’t sure just how much Schiavone, at 36, still cares about the sport, just take a look at her reaction to watching her last winner sail by Arruabarrena.

Even for a Grand Slam titlist who played her first professional match over two decades ago, winning never gets old.