Roberta Vinci

Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian professional padel and former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she won five major tournaments and reached the world No. 1 position. She also reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 7, in May 2016. She is the fourth Italian woman to reach the top 10 in singles, after Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone and Sara Errani. At 33 years and 4 days old, she became the oldest player ever to debut in the top 10.

Vinci rose to global prominence at the 2015 US Open, where she defeated world No. 1 Serena Williams in the semifinals to end her hopes of achieving the Grand Slam, in what has been described by commentators as one of the greatest upsets in tennis history. She went on to lose to her childhood friend Pennetta in the first all-Italian major final.

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

She and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Pennetta, and Schiavone beat the Belgian team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final, granting Italy its first Fed Cup trophy. With the Italian team, Vinci won the Fed Cup again in 2009 and 2010, defeating the U.S. team in the final both times.

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

In 2018, Vinci retired from professional tennis. In 2022, she began competing on the professional padel tour, reaching a ranking of world No. 66 in her debut season. Provided by Wikipedia