Roberta Vinci has made the history of Italian tennis in both singles and doubles. The former tennis player from Taranto achieved the Career Grand Slam paired with Sara Errani, winning all four Majors between 2012 and 2014.
Vinci then gave life to a fantastic Italian derby with Flavia Pennetta in the last act of the 2015 US Open. Impossible to forget the semifinal she won against Serena Williams, that year chasing the Grand Slam. The Italian has won 10 titles in the WTA Tour and she reached the seventh position in the ranking during her career.
On the occasion of her fortieth birthday, Vinci gave a very interesting interview to the Inewspaper Il Tempo.
Roberta Vinci’s 40 years: “I have nothing to reproach myself with”
“I have lived 40 years well. The balance is positive, I can’t complain about anything.
In recent years I have managed to obtain a lot of personal satisfaction, having my family close by. We can say that it’s great. I have nothing to reproach myself with or to want more than what I had. When I was little, I started to reap my first successes in Puglia.
My technicians thought I could become a real player and from then on it was a crescendo. The only thing I regret from a tennis point of view is not being able to win a medal at the Olympics. For the rest I had everything. Final with Flavia Pennetta at the US Open? They are sensations that are difficult even to explain, unique.
I never thought I’d be able to do all this: the final of a Grand Slam, to be able to beat Serena. Hard to explain. One finally tries and I’m not saying that miracles sometimes happen, although I think this was almost a miracle.
But if one believes it, in the end something manages to bring it home. That time a few things came together: luck, talent, Serena was more nervous than usual because she was two steps away from hitting the Grand Slam. Everything lined up to allow me to play the final with Flavia.
Two Apulians who have made the journey of a lifetime, until then. I don’t think about that game anymore. I’m not the type to brood. I can only say pity, but nothing else. Flavia was better than me. She deserved. I probably arrived a little tired and less lucid. But together we made history. That’s okay.”
