Dubai: Roberta Vinci didn’t mind turning 34 on Saturday as she says the older Italians get, the better they play singles tennis.
She’s not wrong, despite the Italians excelling at any age in doubles, winning seven doubles Grand Slam titles — with Vinci being involved in five of those alongside Sara Errani; the country’s only two singles Grand Slam winners Flavia Panetta and Francesca Schiavone both waited until after turning 30 to win their first majors.
Panetta beat Vinci to win the US Open in 2015, aged 33, and Schiavone took the French Open in 2010, aged 30.
“I don’t know why but there must be something special in our body after 30, we all have great moments after 30,” said Vinci on the sidelines of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship draw.
Her own best moment, she said, came at the age of 32 when she beat Serena Williams in the semi-finals of the 2015 US Open to deny the American a calendar-year Grand Slam, before going on to lose the final to Panetta.
It’s widely considered to be one of the greatest upsets in the history of women’s tennis as Vinci was ranked 42 positions below Williams at the time and had never previously taken a set off the legend in four previous meetings.
“It was an incredible moment for me and also tennis, the best moment in my life. Sometimes it can happen, you know, you just have to keep believing.”
This season hasn’t started as well for Vinci; she made the quarters in Brisbane and the last 16 in Sydney before a first round knockout in Melbourne, then she reached another quarters in St. Petersburg before a first round knockout in Doha last week.
“It’s not so good, but that’s normal, I can play every tournament better, so step-by-step, it’s a long year, I know I can play much better.”
In Dubai she faces a first round showdown with 24-year-old Czech Kristyna Pliskova, the twin sister of Karolina.
“It’s a tough match, I don’t remember playing her.” They actually met once in the first round in Prague on clay in 2008. Vinci won 6-2, 6-0. “I will try my best, she’s left handed, so I will play aggressive like always and we will see.
“I had some problem in my foot but it’s getting better so I’m ready for this tournament and hope for the best.”
In seven Dubai appearances, Vinci’s best run was to the semi-finals in 2013 when she lost to her doubles partner Errani. Last year, she was knocked out in the first round by Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova.
