Schiavone suffers as Paris title slips away
Claycourt specialist Francesca Schiavone did not get the chance to show off her skills as she was undone by China's Li Na in Saturday's French Open final.
The Italian, who walked on to court Philippe Chatrier as defending champion, hardly got a look in as the aggressive Li took the game by the throat from the start and eventually won 6-4 7-6 to become the first Asian to clinch a grand slam singles title.
"She played really deep so I could not play my spin really high," the fifth-seeded Schiavone told a news conference.
Schiavone picked up only five points against serve in the opening set and quickly fell 2-0 behind in the second.
There was little she could do as she was trapped well behind the baseline with no time to prepare the potent backhand slice that might have slowed down sixth seed Li's pace.
"She served a good percentage. She did not want to play second serves and be attacked," Schiavone explained.
"Her forehands were always close to the baseline in the first set. She kept me far away from the net, I was always defending."
With a chance to break for 5-2 in the second set, Li wobbled to let Schiavone back into the contest.
The Italian then argued with the umpire in the 11th game when she thought a Li shot was out but the umpire turned down her protest and the Chinese eventually held serve to make it 6-6.
Although Schiavone lost the nine remaining points, succumbing 7-0 in the tiebreak, she would not blame the incident for her defeat.
"If the ball is out, it's out. If it's in, it's in. That's what they taught me when I was young," she said.
"One ball can't make the difference but in that moment you have to check the mark really well."
Last year Schiavone beat Li en route to the final but the Italian said her opponent had improved over the past 12 months.
"She runs much more, in particular when I play corner to corner," said the Italian. "She gets there before the ball and she can play a couple of extra points."