Former French Open Champion Francesca Schiavone Announces Good News For Fans After Coming Out of Cancer

Former Italian tennis star Francesca Schiavone has found herself a reason to get involved with her first love again after winning a grim battle against cancer.

The 2010 French Open champion will return to clay, only this time to coach Croatian tennis star Petra Martic for the European dirt leg.

Francesca Schiavone posted a video on Twitter last year, revealing her successful battle with cancer

The 40-year-old year Italian, who bid adieu to tennis in 2018 with eight career WTA titles including the French Open, posted a video last year revealing that she had beaten cancer.

While not disclosing the type of cancer, Schiavone revealed that she did chemotherapy, adding, “I have won this fight. And now I am back in action.” It was later learned that she had been battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

The former champion will begin her coaching assignment with the 21st-ranked Martic at the claycourt event in Istanbul, which gets underway next week. She will continue her association with the Croat in Rome, Madrid, and the Roland-Garros. The French Open this year was pushed forward by a week to allow more crowds for matches. 

In Istanbul, Martic will defend the 2019 title that she won beating Czech star Marketa Vondrousova.

Having previously coached Caroline Wozniacki, Schiavone will hope to achieve success with Petra Martic

Schiavone was already into her second coming as coach before coming down with cancer. She started her coaching career with former women’s World No. 1 and Grand Slam champion Caroline Wozniacki, but the collaboration was cut short as the Belgian announced a shock retirement from tennis after revealing that she had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

In ‘My Rebirth,’ a book about her cancer battle, Schiavone wrote, “Today, I appreciate the gift of life. I believe in forces superior to us and, after chemo, I had promised myself to pray more.”

(Quotes have been translated with Google Translate)

She also spoke about feeling a renewed burst of energy inside of her.

Read More: “Lost Perspective”: Francesca Schiavone Reveals How Kim Clijsters Guided Her Through Tough Times

Martic can sure harness some of that to arrest a slump of sorts that saw her hurtling to opening-round losses at this Australian Open as well as in Miami.