Martina Trevisan became the 16th Italian to qualify for the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, she who had never won even a game in a Major before Paris. At the age of 26, the Florentine defeated anorexia, stopped playing tennis and resumed starting from minor tournaments. “I’m living a dream, but I believe in dreams”, the words of Martina after the victory with Bertens
ALL THE RESULTS OF ROLAND GARROS
Call her Cinderella, because that of Martina Trevisan a Paris it looks so much like a fairytale. The 25-year-old from Florence, who started from qualifying and currently number 159 in the ranking, qualified for the quarter-finals of Roland Garros. He did it by beating in order Camila Giorgi, the baby phenomenon Coco Gauff, the Greek Maria Sakkari (with a lot of two match points canceled) and the fifth seeded seed, Kiki Bertens. Martina had started her campaign without not even a career Slam success, now the semifinal will be played against another surprise, the Pole Iga Swiatek, who humiliated (6-1, 6-2) the first seed of the tournament, the Romanian Simona Halep. Trevisan becomes the 16th Italian player to qualify among the top 8 of a Grand Slam, the tenth at Roland Garros in the Open Era. “I am living a dream but I believe in dreams – said Martina immediately after the success with Bertens -. I can’t believe I’m in the quarters here in Paris. It was tough: she is a fantastic player and it was an honor to face her. Thank you for supporting me with all these messages, I would embrace you all ”.
Anorexia, stop and return: the story of Trevisan
Trevisan has had a career from child prodigy: he had not yet turned 16 and regularly played junior slams. The pressures and the life of an athlete, however, create enormous problems for Martina: “Tennis had become an environment in which I no longer felt comfortable – he had told the Federtennis website a few months ago -. I was probably wrong to keep playing until the point where I got lost, lost until I got sick of anorexia. I had to get away from tennis, otherwise I would have been overwhelmed. “The blue leaves competitive tennis in 2010 and begins a new life from teacher in a club in Pontedera. In 2014, having solved the problems, he wants to return to the field. He gets back into the game minor tournaments, last January debut at the Australian Open, where she lost in the 1st round to future winner Sofia Kenin. Then the adventure in Paris, where it is a completely different story.
Trevisan, entering the Top 100 for the first time
Thanks to this achievement Trevisan will enter the top 100 for the first time in his career, settling at position number 82 (best ranking: the previous one, n.144, dated 21 August 2017). The left-handed of Florence is the tenth qualified to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in the Open Era: the last was the Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova in 2012. The best result of a qualification in a Grand Slam tournament, also in the Open Era, is represented by the semifinal reached by the American Alexandra Stevenson at Wimbledon in 1999 and by Christine Dorey Mathison at the 1978 Australian Open. The last Italian to reach the quarters in Paris was Sara Errani in 2015.
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