Silvia Farina-Elia (; born 27 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. She won three WTA singles titles, reached the quarterfinals of the 2003 Wimbledon Championships and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in May 2002. Farina-Elia won her first ITF title at Caltagirone in 1991 and her first WTA tournament at Strasbourg in 2001. She made her debut Grand Slam appearance at the 1991 French Open and was coached by husband Francesco Elia, whom she married September 1999.

Career Farina-Elia made steady progression on the ITF circuit during the early 1990s and finished her first year in the top 100 in 1991. She completed her first victory over a top ten player (Gabriela Sabatini, Roland Garros) in 1994 and won her first doubles title the next year. In 1996, she represented Italy at the Atlanta Olympics. 1998 was considered her breakthrough year, reaching the final of four tournaments and in the process securing a place in the year end top 20. She was 26 at the time and thus considered a "late bloomer". She only reached one singles final in 1999 but made a greater impact in doubles, winning three tournaments.

In 2001, Farina-Elia won a belated first WTA Tour title, at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. She ended the year No. 14, what was to be her best year end finish and played in the WTA Tour Championships of 2001 and 2002. She consolidated the Strasbourg win with two more wins at the tournament. In 2003, she achieved her best Grand Slam result at the unlikely venue of Wimbledon, home of her least favourite surface, losing to Kim Clijsters, 7–5, 0–6, 1–6 in the quarterfinals.

Farina-Elia represented Italy at nine Federation Cups and also at three Olympics.

On Monday 24 October 2005, she announced her retirement from the tour due a recurrence of a shoulder injury, saying, "My body has given all it can."

Personal life Farina-Elia began playing tennis aged 10; introduced to the sport by her mother, who played recreationally. Her parents are both insurance agents, as is her sister, Olga. Her brother, Enrico, restores furniture. She married Francesco Elia on 22 September 1999 and described the prospect of life after tennis as "exciting".Sony Ericsson WTA Tour

WTA career finals Singles: 13 (3 titles, 10 runner-ups) Legend Grand Slam (0) Tier I (0) Tier II (0) Tier III (3) Tier IV-V (0)

ResultW-LDateTournamentDateOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Jul 1991 San Marino Open Clay Katia Piccolini 2–6, 3–6Loss 0–2 Jan 1998 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Dominique van Roost 6–4, 6–7(9–11), 5–7Loss 0–3 Apr 1998 Budapest, Hungary Clay Virginia Ruano Pascual 4–6, 6–6, 3–6Loss 0–4 Jul 1998 Warsaw Open, Poland Clay Conchita Martínez 0–6, 3–6Loss 0–5 Nov 1998 Luxembourg Open Carpet (i) Mary Pierce 0–6, 0–2 ret.Loss 0–6 Feb 1999 Prostějov, Czech Republic Carpet (i) Henrieta Nagyová 6–7(2–7), 4–6Loss 0–7 Jan 2001 Gold Coast, Australia Hard Justine Henin 6–7(5–7), 4–6Win 1–7 May 2001 Strasbourg, France Clay Anke Huber 7–5, 0–6, 6–4Win 2–7 May 2002 Strasbourg, France Clay Jelena Dokić 6–4, 3–6, 6–3Win 3–7 May 2003 Strasbourg, France Clay Karolina Šprem 6–3, 4–6, 6–4Loss 3–8 Jan 2004 Canberra, Australia Hard Paola Suárez 6–3, 4–6, 6–7(5–7)Loss 3–9 Feb 2004 Antwerp, Belgium Hard (i) Kim Clijsters 3–6, 0–6Loss 3–10 Apr 2005 Amelia Island, United States Clay Lindsay Davenport 5–7, 5–7

Doubles: 17 (9 titles, 8 runner-ups)

ResultW-LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 May 1990 Taranto Trophy, Italy Clay Rita Grande Elena Brioukhovets Eugenia Maniokova 6–7, 1–6Loss 0–2 Jul 1993 Palermo, Italy Clay Brenda Schultz Karin Kschwendt Natalia Medvedeva 4–6, 6–7(4–7)Win 1–2 Jul 1995 Maria Lankowitz, Austria Clay Andrea Temesvári Alexandra Fusai Wiltrud Probst 6–2, 6–2Loss 1–3 Nov 1996 Kremlin Cup, Russia Carpet (i) Barbara Schett Natalia Medvedeva Larisa Savchenko 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 1–6Loss 1–4 Jan 1997 Gold Coast, Australia Hard Ruxandra Dragomir Naoko Kijimuta Nana Miyagi 7–6, 6–1Win 2–4 Jul 1997 Palermo, Italy Clay Barbara Schett Florencia Labat Mercedes Paz 2–6, 6–1, 6–4Win 3–4 Jul 1998 Prague, Czech Republic Clay Karina Habšudová Květa Hrdličková Michaela Paštiková 2–6, 6–1, 6–2Win 4–4 Jan 1999 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Barbara Schett Seda Noorlander Marlene Weingärtner 6–2, 7–6Win 5–4 Jun 1999 Rosmalen Open, Netherlands Grass Rita Grande Cara Black Kristie Boogert 7–5, 7–6Win 6–4 Jul 1999 Pörtschach, Austria Clay Karina Habšudová Olga Lugina Laura Montalvo 6–4, 6–4Loss 6–5 Feb 2000 Hanover, Germany Hard (i) Karina Habšudová Åsa Carlsson Natalia Zvereva 3–6, 4–6Win 7–5 Jul 2000 Palermo, Italy Clay Rita Grande Ruxandra Dragomir Virginia Ruano Pascual 6–4, 0–6, 7–6(8–6)Win 8–5 May 2001 Strasbourg, France Clay Iroda Tulyaganova Amanda Coetzer Lori McNeil 6–1, 7–6(7–0)Loss 8–6 Linz, Austria Hard (i) Marion Bartoli Liezel Huber Ai Sugiyama 1–6, 6–7(6–8)Loss 8–7 Feb 2004 Paris, France Hard Francesca Schiavone Barbara Schett Patty Schnyder 3–6, 2–6Win 9–7 May 2004 Warsaw, Poland Clay Francesca Schiavone Gisela Dulko Patricia Tarabini3–6, 6–2, 6–1Loss 9–8 Jan 2005 Gold Coast, Australia Hard Maria Elena Camerin Elena Likhovtseva Magdalena Maleeva 6–3, 5–7, 6–1

ITF finals Singles (2–1) Legend $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1. 29 October 1990 ITF Putignano, Italy Clay Nathalie Baudone 2–6, 4–6Win 2. 24 June 1991 ITF Caltagirone, Italy Clay Ann Devries 7–5, 6–3Win 3. 5 April 1993 ITF Limoges, France Carpet (i) Laurence Courtois 6–3, 6–3

Doubles (6–2) ResultNoDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1. 11 June 1990 ITF Modena, Italy Hard Simona Isidori Heleen van den Berg Miriam Oremans 6–2, 6–3Win 2. 23 July 1990 ITF Milan, Italy Hard Simona Isidori Nathalie Ballet Agnes Romand 2–6, 6–1, 6–3Win 3. 29 October 1990 ITF Putignano, Italy Clay Nathalie Baudone Darija Dešković Karin Lušnic 6–1, 6–1Win 4. 24 June 1991 ITF Caltagiron, Italy Hard Misumi Miyauchi Alexandra Fusai Olivia Gravereaux 6–7, 6–4, 6–4Win 5. 13 April 1992 ITF Salerno, Italy Hard Linda Ferrando Kirrily Sharpe Angie Woolcock 6–1, 6–4Loss 6. 7 September 1992 ITF Arzachena, Italy Clay Linda Ferrando Laura Garrone Laura Golarsa 4–6, 6–4, 4–6Win 7. 11 April 1993 ITF Limoges, France Carpet (i) Elena Pampoulova Stephanie Reece Danielle Scott 6–2, 6–7(5), 6–2Loss 8. 16 August 1993 ITF Arzachena, Italy Clay Linda Ferrando Akiko Kijimuta Naoko Kijimuta 0–6, 5–7

Head-to-head record against players in the top 10 Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.

Dominique Monami 1–4 Martina Hingis 1–4 Lindsay Davenport 1–7 Dinara Safina 0–2 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 0–5 Serena Williams 1–1 Maria Sharapova 1–1 Justine Henin 0–3 Kim Clijsters 0–6 Amélie Mauresmo 0–7 Jelena Janković 2–1 Elena Dementieva 1–3 Iva Majoli 0–4 Jana Novotná 1–5 Anna Kournikova 3–4 Flavia Pennetta 1–0 Nadia Petrova 0–4 Karina Habšudová 2-1

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