Immediately after her victory, Francesa Schiavone climbed into a section of the stands, to a block of Italians wearing T-shirts bearing the words 'Schiavone: nothing is impossible', to be swallowed by their ecstatic embrace, and only then returned to field an on-court call from Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, then sang the Italian National Anthem. 

The women's tour is filled with women who bash away on every shot. Only Justine Henin mixes spins and speeds. Well, now add Schiavone She sliced some backhands, crushed others. She would hit a drop shot here, crush a forehand there. Hit a slice, short angle, sneak into the net, stay back. Plus, she can really run. Stosur is used to hitting big serves and forehands, and her backhand is decent. But Schiavone moved her around and with the change of paces and depths and angles, it didn't allow Stosur to set up for her backhands.

Australian Samantha Stosur was seeded 7th, and had beaten favorites Justine Henin and Serena Williams to face 17th seeded Francesca Schiavone, who although she had dreamed of playing tennis since she was a little girl, and had earned substantial monies, never was able to gain much respect, until today when she used her guile, aggressiveness, and persistence to overcome Stosur's power and serve. 
In 42 years of Open tennis only two other Italians, Nicola Pietrangeli and Adriano Panatta, have won a Grand Slam title; Pietrangeli here twice, in 1959 and 1960 and Panatta in 1976.
As a result of this French Open victory, Schiavone is now seeded 6th in the World, while Stosur remained at 7th. 

Francesca Schiavone lay flat on her back in the red clay of Roland Garros yesterday after creating history in the French Open.
She became the first Italian woman ever to win a Grand Slam title, beating Australian Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6, with a cocktail of powerful and subtle shot-making. 
Playing a near flawless tiebreak to win the biggest set of tennis of her life, 7-2, 29-year-old Schiavone completed a huge upset as she became the oldest woman to win her first Grand Slam title since Ann Jones won Wimbledon in 1969.

[Photo: Joy: Francesca Schiavone kisses the clay at Roland Garros after sealing her first Grand Slam]
When she regained her feet, her white clothes stained by clay and sweat, the tears flowed as she laughed and cried in jubilation. As the crowd rose to acclaim their new champion, 
Schiavone climbed into a section of the stand near the president's box to be swallowed in the embrace of a block of Italians wearing T-shirts bearing the words 'Schiavone: nothing is impossible', then returned to field an on-court call from Italian president Giorgio Napolitano.
In 42 years of Open tennis only two other Italians, Nicola Pietrangeli and Adriano Panatta, have won a Grand Slam title; Pietrangeli here twice, in 1959 and 1960 and Panatta in 1976.
Schiavone's willingness to be the aggressor against Stosur, who had beaten Justine Henin and Serena Williams en route to the final, won her the absolute right to join the company of Italy's two finest tennis players. 

[Photo: Italian job well done: Schiavone won at Roland Garros]
Yesterday, with her one-handed backhand, and never missing a volley, she looked a far better player than the one who entered these championships a fortnight ago as the 17th seed. 
The result is a tribute to Schiavone's persistence. She reached the quarter-finals here nine years ago but in the years since she has only been that far in a major championship twice, at the US Open in 2003 and at Wimbledon last summer. 

She had just two titles to her credit, won in Moscow and Bad Gastein, hardly bastions of the game.
But that all changed yesterday and an emotional Schiavone told the crowd: 'I haven't prepared anything because when I prepare things they never happen, but I felt amazing today. I felt like a champion.' 

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