Roberta Vinci Announces Retirement from Tennis in 2018

every7

every7

Hall of Fame
Roberta Vinci has announced that she will be retiring from professional tennis in the new year.

Her last match will be at her beloved Rome Masters tournament in May.

Expect her to play a fairly limited singles schedule in the leadup to that final event. I would suggest enjoy her matches while you still can before she retires.

Please fill this thread with interesting reminiscences about this soulful player and what you loved about her game.

Here are my observations:

- One of the last pure all-court stylists whose effortless style contrasted with her burning competitive fire
- Beautiful, fluent game with extraordinary variety but could mix it with flourishes of modern tennis capitalizing on newer equipment and playing styles.
- Could beat anyone on her day, and played with bravery despite modern court conditions no longer favouring the attacking playing style
- Part of Italy's golden generation of great women players who shared powerful comradeship despite having individualistic and contrasting style (Panetta, Schiavone, Errani). Together they won every big prize in the sport.
- Has a role in the history books after beating Serena Williams in what might be the greatest upset match of all time ending Williams chances for a Calendar Year Grand Slam in a modern day US Open classic.

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Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
That's a nice pic of Vinci. She looks much prettier than she does on court.

It will be sad to see her go as she was always an interesting player to watch and who will ever forget that 2015 US Open semi-final when she took down Serena to join her countrywoman Penetta in the first ever all Italian final at a Grand Slam tournament?

Hopefully she will be allowed to play her last match in Rome given that the organisers refused to allocate a wild card to Schiavone when playing her final season this year!

Edit: it appears from this article that Schiavone has changed her mind about retiring after all. Apparently Federer and the Williams sisters have inspired her to keep going!

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/schiavone-not-retiring-federer-serena-and-venus-inspire-me
 
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HuusHould

Hall of Fame
As mentioned by OP she's been a great competitor, like most of the Italians on the WTA tour have been of late, both on the doubles and singles courts. The match against Serena was a classic, she just kept pressing forward and some of the volleys and half volleys she played were top notch! She took Serena's rhythm away and held her nerve to get over the line.
 
F

FrontHeadlock

Hall of Fame
Her win over Serena in the USO semifinal was easily one of my favorite victories of all time. It was fitting that Serena, going for a CYGS in an unfathomably weak era of tennis, was done in by a player ranked in the 40s lol.
 
J

JRAJ1988

Guest
She was a fighter, had one of the best slices I've seen and beating Serena Williams in 2015 was one of the biggest shocks of Women's tennis if not the biggest shock.
 
every7

every7

Hall of Fame
Mainad said:
That's a nice pic of Vinci. She looks much prettier than she does on court.

It will be sad to see her go as she was always an interesting player to watch and who will ever forget that 2015 US Open semi-final when she took down Serena to join her countrywoman Penetta in the first ever all Italian final at a Grand Slam tournament?

Hopefully she will be allowed to play her last match in Rome given that the organisers refused to allocate a wild card to Schiavone when playing her final season this year!

Edit: it appears from this article that Schiavone has changed her mind about retiring after all. Apparently Federer and the Williams sisters have inspired her to keep going!

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/schiavone-not-retiring-federer-serena-and-venus-inspire-me
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Mainad, I think sometimes like @ojo rojo said she is so fierce looking that it hides how pretty she is. Like a lot of Italian women she has a great body and is actually very attractive with beautiful eyes and a good dresser once she leaves the intensity of the courts :eek:

JRAJ1988 said:
She was a fighter, had one of the best slices I've seen and beating Serena Williams in 2015 was one of the biggest shocks of Women's tennis if not the biggest shock.
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Agree. Surely one of the great upsets. Vinci is amazing but there was always the risk that she could be overpowered by Serena when they played. The circumstances of that match and Serena's form going into the match led me to believe that there would be no chance for Vinci. The rest, as they say, is history......

I actually have it in one of my greatest 100 matches of all time. Great level of play, phenomenal drama, huge historical significance and also a battle between two great, great players with contrasting styles.
 
ibbi

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
It's always sad to see these players who still try and play as much of their tennis inside the service box as possible head off into the sunset. She was a beautiful player to watch, and she's had a hell of a run. That match with/performance against Serena was one for the ages. She was so lucky to get to that stage of the tournament, if I remember rightly a couple of things massively swung her way, but god damn if she didn't show her worth that day. On that stage against that player she not only showed no fear, but she was straight up toying with Serena with all the variety she displayed. Nerves of steel. The game is only ever lesser without players like that. Hope she enjoys her retirement.
 
Simon_the_furry

Simon_the_furry

Hall of Fame
NOOOOOOO
One of the last unique players on the WTA tour, gone! ;-;
What a shame.
Almost everybody on the WTA tour plays the exact same way anymore. Semi-western forehand grip, semi-western two-handed backhand, and they don't really know how to slice or hit drop shots. They also stubbornly refuse to volley.
Vinci was obviously not one of those players. She was actually interesting to watch!
 
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Mr.Lob

Mr.Lob

G.O.A.T.
Roberta Vinci...giant slayer! Biggest upset of all time. Beat a heavily favored Serena Williams to crush Serena's bid for a CYGS, and the history books. Vinci played a great match, but Serena was choking so bad...you'd think someone had crammed a tennis ball down her throat. Goodbye Roberta, and thank you... thank you... thank you...for one of the most enjoyable matches I've ever seen! ;)
 
every7

every7

Hall of Fame
ibbi said:
It's always sad to see these players who still try and play as much of their tennis inside the service box as possible head off into the sunset. She was a beautiful player to watch, and she's had a hell of a run. That match with/performance against Serena was one for the ages. She was so lucky to get to that stage of the tournament, if I remember rightly a couple of things massively swung her way, but god damn if she didn't show her worth that day. On that stage against that player she not only showed no fear, but she was straight up toying with Serena with all the variety she displayed. Nerves of steel. The game is only ever lesser without players like that. Hope she enjoys her retirement.
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Lovely comments. Thanks for posting your thoughts.
 
MLRoy

MLRoy

Hall of Fame
I liked watching her years before she won THAT match. And, speaking of that match, she showed the world & her fellow players what a huge equalizer getting your asss to net and volleying can be. As well as the advantages of drop-shotting an out-of-shape, overrated opponent.

Too bad she chose to retire in May at Rome. I saw her beat Errani in the final of a small Italian clay tourney a few years ago. But hard courts suit her game better. Wish she'd play through the US Open.

 
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slice bh compliment

G.O.A.T.
I like celebrating her, but it makes me sad.
There was a time there were several smooth all-court, attacking stylists playing women's tennis.
Bueno, king, court, turnbull, richard raskind, emma stone, Navratilova, mandlikova, basuki, henin, mauresmo, molik, Novotna, thauziat, bremond, goolagong, bunge, hanika, graf.....und many more.

Now there are just a handful. They all seem to be aging Italian and French women.
It's Madisonning. Makes me Coco.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
slice bh compliment said:
I like celebrating her, but it makes me sad.
There was a time there were several smooth all-court, attacking stylists playing women's tennis.
Bueno, king, court, turnbull, richard raskind, emma stone, Navratilova, mandlikova, basuki, henin, mauresmo, molik, Novotna, thauziat, bremond, goolagong, bunge, hanika, graf.....und many more.

Now there are just a handful. They all seem to be aging Italian and French women.
It's Madisonning. Makes me Coco.
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LOL! Sneaky.
 
mellowyellow

mellowyellow

Legend
I Am Finnish said:
Cant still believe she stopped Serena from winning the CYGS 1 of the biggest upsets in WTA tennis:eek:
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Yes it was. Maybe a little bit of choking but also splendid play by Vinci that forced Serena out of her comfort for the weight of that match. The messed up thing is their was still another match to play and that gets forgotten for some reason. It wasn't the "for all the marbles match".
 
stringertom

stringertom

Bionic Poster
mellowyellow said:
Yes it was. Maybe a little bit of choking but also splendid play by Vinci that forced Serena out of her comfort for the weight of that match. The messed up thing is their was still another match to play and that gets forgotten for some reason. It wasn't the "for all the marbles match".
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The results of the next match should still motivate The Velvet Fog to become supreme in the Fognini household.
 
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