Roberta Vinci

Roberta Vinci (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrta ˈvintʃi]; born 18 February 1983) is a retired Italian professional tennis player. Up until 6 April 2015, she held the position of world No. 1 in doubles, while reaching a career-high of No. 7 in singles in May 2016. She is the fourth Italian woman to have reached the top 10 in singles, together with Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone and Sara Errani. At 33 years and 4 days old, she became the oldest player ever to make her first appearance in the top 10.

She rose to worldwide prominence at the 2015 US Open, when she reached the semifinals and defeated world No. 1 Serena Williams in three sets, ending Williams's hopes of winning the calendar Grand Slam, in what has been described by numerous commentators as one of the biggest shocks in tennis history. She went on to lose to her childhood friend Flavia Pennetta in the first ever all-Italian Grand Slam final.

Vinci has won 35 WTA Tour titles, 10 in singles and 25 in doubles, including the 2012 French Open, the 2012 US Open, the 2013 Australian Open and 2014 Australian Open, and 2014 Wimbledon titles with regular partner Sara Errani. In doing so, they became only the fifth pair in tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam.

The first of her ten singles titles came in the 2007 Copa Colsanitas, over Tathiana Garbin. She won her second title at the 2009 Barcelona Ladies Open, over Maria Kirilenko. Her third title was at the 2010 BGL Luxembourg Open, over Julia Görges. Her fourth title was for her second victory after 2009 at the 2011 Barcelona Ladies Open, over Lucie Hradecká. Her fifth title was her first win on grass at the 2011 UNICEF Open, over Jelena Dokić. Her third victory in 2011 and sixth title was in Budapest over Irina-Camelia Begu. In 2012, at Dallas, over former world No. 1, Jelena Janković, for her 7th title. In 2013, she defeated Petra Kvitová for her 8th title at the 2013 BNP Paribas Katowice Open and doubles partner Sara Errani at Palermo. Her biggest title came in 2016, when she won the Premier event in St. Petersburg, defeating Belinda Bencic in the final.

She and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Flavia Pennetta, and Francesca Schiavone beat the Belgian team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin-Hardenne had to retire in the fifth and final match due to an injury in her right knee, which allowed Italy to win its first Fed Cup trophy. With the Italian team, she also won the Fed Cup in 2009 and 2010 against the USA.

At the 2012 US Open, Vinci reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, at 29 years of age, by defeating then-world No. 2, Agnieszka Radwańska, in the fourth round. She subsequently lost to her doubles partner and world No. 10, Sara Errani, in the quarterfinals. She achieved the same feat the following year when she defeated Camila Giorgi in the fourth round. She subsequently lost to Flavia Pennetta. She is one of the three players in the WTA top 100 using a one-handed backhand.