Roberta Vinci

Roberta Vinci

Country (sports)	Italy
Residence	Palermo, Italy
Born	(1983-02-18) 18 February 1983 Taranto, Italy
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	1999
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$5,149,000
Singles
Career record	440–295
Career titles	8 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 12 (15 April 2013)
Current ranking	No. 15 (27 May 2013)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (2006, 2010, 2013)
French Open	4R (2013)
Wimbledon	4R (2012)
US Open	QF (2012)
Doubles
Career record	337–167
Career titles	19 WTA, 10 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 1 (15 October 2012)
Current ranking	No. 1 (27 May 2013)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (2013)
French Open	W (2012)
Wimbledon	QF (2012)
US Open	W (2012)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (2012)
Last updated on: 27 May 2013.

Roberta Vinci (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrta ˈviŋtʃi]; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian tennis player. As of 27 May 2013, Vinci is ranked World No. 15 in the WTA Tour Rankings. Vinci has won 27 WTA Tour titles, eight in singles and 19 in doubles, including the 2012 French Open, the 2012 US Open and 2013 Australian Open title with regular partner Sara Errani.

Her first title 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 's-Hertogenbosch, over Jelena Dokić. Her third victory in 2011 and sixth title was in Budapest.

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 their 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 quarter-final, 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 quarter-finals.

Private life

Roberta Vinci was born in Taranto, the daughter of Angelo Vinci, an accountant, and his wife Luisa, a homemaker; she has an older brother, Francesco, who is a student. Vinci was introduced to tennis at the age of six. She currently resides in Palermo, and is coached by Francesco Cina.

Career

Vinci won the 1999 French Open in girls' doubles with fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta. She qualified for her first Grand Slam at the 2001 US Open, but lost to Martina Suchá in the first round.

One of the biggest victories of her career came in 2005 was when she beat former world no. 2 and 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina in the quarterfinals at the Hastings Direct International Championships in Eastbourne. Alongside Sandrine Testud, Vinci reached the semifinals in women's doubles of the 2004 French Open. In 2007 at Bogotá, Roberta Vinci won her first WTA title against the top seed Tathiana Garbin, also of Italy, in three sets, after falling behind 0–3 in the final set. She won the title after Garbin had to retire.

2009

Vinci qualified for the Brisbane International and defeated Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the first round, before losing to top seed Ana Ivanović in the second. She then fell to fellow Italian Corinna Dentoni in the qualifications for Moorilla Hobart International. Vinci lost to eventual quarterfinalist Carla Suárez Navarro in the first round of the 2009 Australian Open. Vinci also played for Italy's Fed Cup team in the Fed Cup World Group stage versus France. Italy won 5–0.

At her first clay event, Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Vinci defeated sixth seed Lucie Šafářová in the first round, and then fell to Ágnes Szávay of Hungary. Vinci then lost in the second rounds of both the Monterrey Open (defeated by Iveta Benešová) and the Paribas Open in Indian Wells (defeated by Sybille Bammer), and fell in the qualifications for Miami Sony Ericsson Open to Anastasia Rodionova. Vinci then fell to eventual champion and former world no. 1 Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals of the Andalucía Tennis Experience in Marbella. At the Barcelona Ladies Open, Vinci earned her second career title, defeating Pauline Parmentier in the first round, Flavia Pennetta in the second, Anastasiya Yakimova in the quarterfinals, Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals, and defending champion Maria Kirilenko in the final.

Vinci reached the second round of the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem held in Fes. After she defeated Mariana Duque Marino in the first round, she lost to qualifier Polona Hercog in the second. At the Premier Mandatory event Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Vinci lost in the first round to Kateryna Bondarenko. She then beat María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round of the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, and then was beaten by Vera Dushevina in the second.

Vinci beat no. 31 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round to set up a third-round matchup with no. 2 Serena Williams.

2010

Vinci lost to eventual champion Ana Ivanović in the 2010 Generali Ladies Linz semifinals, 3–6, 5–7. She won her third WTA-title in the BGL PNB Paribas Luxembourg Open against Julia Görges, 6–3, 6–4.

2011

Roberta Vinci in Budapest, 08. 07. 2011.

Vinci reached the quarter finals of Hobart losing to 6th seed Jarmila Gajdošová. She lost in the first round of the 2012 Australian Open to Alicia Molik. She reached the semi finals of Pattaya City, after defeating 2nd seed Ana Ivanovic in the quarter finals. The rest of her year continued with dismal results with only 1 win and 6 loses over the course of 6 events from Dubai to Stuttgart.

She then entered the 2012 Barcelona Ladies Open, where she was the 6th seed. She ended up winning the tournament without having to beat a seed, or a player inside the top 50. She beat Lucie Hradecká in the final 4–6, 6–2, 6–2 This was her second time winning this tournament and her third clay court title. She then entered the Madrid, where she reached the 3rd before losing to Li Na 2–6, 6–2, 6–1, the first time she had ever won a set against her. She lost in the 3rd round of the 2011 French Open to Victoria Azarenka 6–3, 6–2.

Her next major success came at the 2011 UNICEF Open where she was the 7th seed. After wins over 3rd seed Yanina Wickmayer and 5th seed Dominika Cibulková in the quarter finals and semi finals respectively beat Jelena Dokić in the final 6–7(7), 6–3, 7–5. This was her second title of 2011 and her first title on grass. As the 29th seed at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships she reached the 3rd round where she lost to 8th seed and eventual champion Petra Kvitová 6–3, 6–3.

Her first post Wimbledon event was Budapest where she was the No. 1 seed. She beat 3rd seed Klára Zakopalová and 7th seed Irina-Cameilia Begu in the final 6–4, 1–6, 6–4. This was a tour leading 3 title at the time.

She began her American hard court swing in Carlsbad as the 9th seed. She was upset in the second round by Zheng Jie. Vinci scored the biggest win of her career in Toronto, beating defending champion and world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 6–4, 7–5, in the second round of the Rogers Cup. In the second set, Vinci rallied from 1–5 down and saved multiple set points, before going on to win the match. In the third round, she defeated former world no. 1 Ana Ivanović, 7–6(3), 6–2. She lost in the quarter finals to 10th seed Samantha Stosur 6–4, 6–1.

As of 15 August 2011, she was ranked world no. 19.

As the 18th seed, at the 2011 US Open, Vinci made it to the third round. In the first round, she defeated the Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, 6–3, 6–4. She then defeated Alizé Cornet, 6–2, 6–3. In the third round, she was sent home by Andrea Petkovic, 4–6, 0–6. Despite losing in the third round, this was Vinci's best performance so far in the US Open.

She qualified for the 2011 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, but lost to eventual champion Ana Ivanovic 6–3, 6–3.

2012

Roberta Vinci at 2012 US Open

Starting the year at the 2012 ASB Classic, she was seeded 6th and defeated Rebecca Marino in the first round before falling 3–6, 4–6 to unseeded Elena Vesnina in the second round. Roberta then suffered early round losses at the 2012 Apia International Sydney and the 2012 Australian Open to Daniela Hantuchová and Zheng Jie respectively.

Her next tournament came at the 2012 Open GDF Suez where she was seeded 7th. She defeated Simona Halep 6–4, 6–4, then Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6–3, 1–6, 6–3, before falling to eventual finalist Marion Bartoli in a third set tiebreaker in the quarterfinals. Vinci then traveled to Mexico where she participated in her next 2 tournaments, the 2012 Monterrey Open and the 2012 Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Seeded first in both events, she was upset by Nina Bratchikova in the second round of Monterrey, before bowing out to eventual champion Sara Errani in the semifinals at Acapulco.

Roberta then traveled to the 2012 BNP Paribas Open. Seeded 23rd, she beat Silvia Soler Espinosa, 20th seeded Dominika Cibulková, before falling to second-seeded Maria Sharapova 3–6, 6–4, 3–6. She returned to the top 20 following her fourth round appearance. She then bowed out to 10th seeded Serena Williams in the third round of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open. She next participated at the 2012 Barcelona Ladies Open where she was the defending champ but lost in the second round to Simona Halep 6–1, 6–3. Ironically, the tournament champion was Sara Errani, her doubles partner. Vinci and Errani managed to win the doubles finals of 2012 Barcelona Ladies Open by beating Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta in an all Italian final, with the score of 6–2, 6–0.

She then entered the 2012 Estoril Open as the number 1 seed. She made it to the semi finals before losing to eventual champion Kaia Kanepi 6–2, 7–5. Her next tournament was Madrid, were she was unseeded and defeated the 14th seed Dominika Cibulková in the first round and lost in the round of 16 to Agniezska Radwańska. She then entered the 2012 French Open as the 17th seed and lost in the first round to Sofia Arvidsson.

Her first post French open event was the 2012 Aegon Classic where she was the 4th seed. She reached the Quarters before losing to Zheng Jie. She then was the 6th seed at the 2012 UNICEF Open, where she was the defending champion. She lost in the quarter finals to Kirsten Flipkens 6–4, 7–6(5). She then competed in the 2012 Wimbledon Championships as the 21st seed. She defeated Ashleigh Barty, Marina Erakovic and Mirjana Lučić to reach the round of 16. This was the first time she had ever reached the second week of a major. She ended up losing to Tamira Paszek 6–2, 6–2.

Vinci also won six doubles titles with the fellow Italian Sara Errani including the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open, the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia and the 2012 French Open. She and Errani also made the finals of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open and the 2012 Australian Open. Being, the most successful pair in 2012, Vinci is currently the number four in doubles.

Vinci, also partnered Daniele Bracciali at the 2012 Australian Open. Entering the draw as an alternate they managed to reach the Semifinals. They lost to the 5th seed Elena Vesnina and Leander Paes after they managed to take the first set. At Wimbledon Championships, they teamed up again and they reached the third round.

Vinci lost the opening match of Olympic 2012 to Kim Clijsters, 1–6 4–6.

At the 2012 Rogers Cup in Montreal, Vinci defeated Yanina Wickmayer 6–2, 3–6, 7–5 after coming back from a 1–5 and match point deficit in the third set. In the second round she crushed 11th seed Ana Ivanovic 6–0, 6–0 in 45 minutes. After she defeated the number 6th seed Angelique Kerber with the result of 6–2, 7–6(7), but she was beaten in the quarterfinals by the Czech Lucie Šafářová in straight sets. Two weeks later Vinci defeated Jelena Janković 7–5, 6–3 to win her 7th WTA title at the 2012 Texas Tennis Open without losing a set in the entire tournament.

At the US Open, Vinci started her journey by defeating Urszula Radwańska 6–1, 6–1 and followed that victory up with a second round victory over Yaroslava Shvedova. In the third round, she defeated the 13th seed, Dominika Cibulková. In the fourth round, she defeated Agnieska Radwańska in straight sets. In the Quarterfinals, she will meet her doubles partner, Sara Errani, ensuring that an Italian woman will reach the semifinals. She lost in the Quarterfinals, 6–2, 6–4.

Vinci partnered again Sara Errani for the 2012 US Open. They were seeded number 2, behind the defending champions Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond. Errani and Vinci reached again the Final of the US Open while the defending champions lost in the third round.

2013

Roberta Vinci defeated top-seeded Petra Kvitová 7–6(2) 6–1 to win the Inaugural BNP Paribas Katowice Open title in Poland.

Career statistics

Main article: Roberta Vinci career statistics

Major Finals

Grand Slam

Doubles: 4 (3–1)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	2012	Australian Open	Hard	Sara Errani	Svetlana Kuznetsova Vera Zvonareva	5–7, 6–4, 6–3
Winner	2012	French Open	Clay	Sara Errani	Maria Kirilenko Nadia Petrova	4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner	2012	US Open	Hard	Sara Errani	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	6–4, 6–2
Winner	2013	Australian Open	Hard	Sara Errani	Ashleigh Barty Casey Dellacqua	6–2, 3–6, 6–2

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q1	3R	1R	1R	1R	3R	1R	2R	3R	7–8
French Open	A	Q2	Q2	1R	1R	1R	1R	Q1	1R	2R	3R	1R	4R	6–9
Wimbledon	A	1R	Q3	Q3	3R	A	2R	Q2	3R	2R	3R	4R		8–6
US Open	1R	Q1	A	1R	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	3R	QF		7–10

Women's doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	3R	1R	QF	1R	1R	2R	2R	2R	2R	1R	F	W	20–11
French Open	QF	QF	1R	SF	1R	3R	1R	1R	1R	2R	3R	W		21–11
Wimbledon	A	3R	1R	3R	1R	A	1R	A	1R	3R	3R	QF		11–8
US Open	SF	1R	A	1R	3R	2R	1R	A	1R	1R	QF	W		16–9

Team competition

• 2006, 2009 and 2010 Fed Cup

See also

• Italy Fed Cup team
• Italy at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics

External links

• Roberta Vinci at the Women's Tennis Association
• Roberta Vinci at the Billie Jean King Cup