• French Open, Day 14

Schiavone claims her maiden Grand Slam in Paris

Francesca Schiavone wins her maiden Grand SLam © Getty Images

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Gallery

Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian female to win a Grand Slam by defeating Sam Stosur 6-4 7-6(2) in the final of the French Open.

The world No. 17 was the underdog coming into the match - she had lost to Stosur on four of the five previous occasions the players had met - but she produced a tactical masterclass to claim the win.

Schiavone negated Stosur's power advantage throughout as she completed a remarkable victory in her ninth visit to Paris - this is the first Grand Slam in which she has progressed past the quarter-finals.

Although Stosur entered the match with an impressive collection of scalps to her name - having beaten Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic en route to the final - she was never allowed to reach her fluent best against Schiavone.

There was a circumspect opening to the first set, with both players in the grip of nerves and unable to stamp their authority on the match. It was Schiavone who escaped the shackles in the ninth game by converting the second of three break points.

Schiavone found herself in difficulty when serving out for the set, but she showed great composure to battle back from a 30-0 deficit. Stosur briefly rallied to force her opponent to squander the first of her break points, but the Italian made no mistake on the second.

She was good value for the set - Stosur started brightly, but aspects of her game became more ragged as the stanza progressed. Although she retained the ability to carve threatening backhands from the baseline throughout, her volleys often went splaying off the racket at unintended angles.

At 40-15 down in the third game of the second set, Stosur was in danger of letting the match slip away from her. She fought tenaciously to claw back the deficit, however, before claiming a break of her own with a series of blistering strikes in the subsequent game.

Stosur built on that advantage to race into a 4-1 lead, but her game capitulated just as it seemed she had done enough to force a deciding set. After she restored parity at 4-4, the momentum swung decisively towards Schiavone. The 29-year-old took advantage to close out the win with the first match point she was offered in the tie-break.

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