by Pete Bodo
PARIS—Recurring nightmares may get all the publicity, but Francesca Schiavone is busy proving that glorious dreams can also recur; she's been living one here at the French Open these past two weeks and won't wake up from it until the same time as last year—when the last ball is struck in the women's final on Saturday.
Today, she triumphed in the semifinals over Marion Bartoli, 6-3, 6-3. That score may suggest she just sleepwalked through the match, but that's not quite accurate. The match lasted 90 minutes and, as so many other matches here over this fortnight, it was distinguished by fierce ball-striking and an admirable degree of resistance on the part of the loser.
The latter quality was especially welcome, as Bartoli was dealing with the crushing pressure visited upon French players who survive to the later stages of this, their national championships. The situation was especially ticklish because of the goofball cum major irritant nature of Bartoli. She takes a combination of practice swings, split steps, rapid-fire running-in-place steps (we won't even get into the racket dips and bobbing-and-weaving return "stance" antics) as her opponent prepares to serve, or between points when she's serving. If Bartoli was hoping to look savage and ridiculous at the same time, she sure managed. However, she would have looked merely absurd had she played any less well.
But as gamely as Bartoli resisted those lashing topspin forehands and razor-cut backhands that have become Schiavone's specialty, the reality is that she just didn't play the big points well enough to get the traction she would have needed to pull to defending champion off track. There were no breaks until the eighth game of the first set, in which Bartoli led 40-15. A double fault started her slide, and a Schiavone forehand return winner off a second serve ended it. It was altogether too loose a game, given the challenge Bartoli faced, and she later cited it as the turning point.
"She really played smart tennis," Bartoli said. "And at the end she was a bit too tough. But I really believe if I had this 4-all game—I was down 4 3, 40-15 on my serve, and if I was able to hold my serve at this time I think the match could still turn around. But when she was leading 5-3 she really start to play a lot better, and from this point it was tough. I think I didn't play a bad match, but she played a bit too good today."
Sensing that Bartoli was not quite able to get over the hump, the crowd became more vocal, frequently chanting, Mah-rion, Mah-rion while rhythmically clapping. But much like the object of its affection, the capacity crowd was no match for the relatively small Italian contingent. The wonderful thing about an Italian crowd is that they can carry on, singing and chanting, in a way that's more celebratory than aggressive, or offensive. And they certainly made their heroine feel less the interloper on the terrain of her opponent.
Meanwhile, Schiavone quietly and inconspicuously kept a tight grip on the match, starting with that first-set break, converting four of six break points in total. Schiavone herself faced only one break point in the entire match; Bartoli converted it to enjoy what would be a short-lived 2-0 second-set lead, wasted when she was broken right back in the next game. The women made a comparable number of errors, both forced and unforced, but the outstanding statistical detail is that Schiavone hit 22 winners—twice the number as Bartoli. That tells you who called the tune and who did the dancing.
This raises the question: What is it about Schiavone's game that has made her so deadly at Roland Garros for two years running? It can't be a fluke, or accident. She'd never been past the quarterfinals before 2010, and in 2009 she suffered a seemingly dispiriting first-round exit. Given that she was already 28 at the time makes her subsequent accomplishments even more impressive—almost improbable. Look into your heart—did you really think, two weeks ago, that Schiavone would be in the French Open final again?
Mulling over the question of how she arrived at the final despite traveling as far as the semis in only one other clay-court tournament this year, Schiavone said, "I think because is inspiration. When I was young I always dreamed this tournament, so maybe is coming from a long, long time ago. When I come here, I feel something special. That's all."
Schiavone also told us that her love affair with Roland Garros began when she first played here as a junior. "When I came here the first year (1999, but most reckoning), I played qualification (for the junior event) in another club, and then I came here. I played first round, second round, and then I lost in the (junior) quarterfinals. During that week there was big match, Graf, Steffi Graf, against Monica Seles. I remember that I went there with the camera to take a picture. Every year before come here, I go to watch that picture. And is one. Is one picture.
