Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she is a Career Grand Slam champion having won all major tournaments and reached the world No. 1 position. She also reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 7, in May 2016. At the 2015 US Open, she defeated world No. 1 Serena Williams in the semifinals to end her hopes of achieving the Grand Slam, in what has been described by commentators as one of the greatest upsets in tennis history. She went on to lose to her childhood friend Flavia Pennetta in the first all-Italian major final. Vinci won 35 career titles, ten in singles and 25 in doubles, the latter including the 2012 French Open, the 2012 US Open, the 2013 and 2014 Australian Opens, and 2014 Wimbledon titles with regular partner Sara Errani. In doing so, they became the fifth pair in tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam.
Vinci and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Pennetta, and Francesca Schiavone beat the Belgian team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final, granting Italy its first Fed Cup trophy.Italy wins the Fed Cup for the first time , fedcup.com, 17 September With the Italian team, Vinci won the Fed Cup again in 2009 and 2010, defeating the U.S. team in the final both times.
At the 2012 US Open, Vinci reached her first major singles quarterfinal, at 29 years of age, by defeating then-world No. 2 Agnieszka Radwańska. She lost to her doubles partner, world No. 10, Errani, in the quarterfinals. Vinci achieved the same feat the following year when she defeated Camila Giorgi in the fourth round, but subsequently lost to Flavia Pennetta. At one point, Vinci was one of only three players in the top 100 using a one-handed backhand.
In 2018, Vinci retired from professional tennis. In 2022, she began competing on the professional padel tour, reaching a ranking of world No. 66 in her debut season.
Early life Roberta Vinci was born in Taranto, the daughter of Angelo Vinci, an accountant, and his wife Luisa, a homemaker;Roberta Vinci at the WTA Tour's official website she has an elder brother, Francesco. Vinci was introduced to tennis at the age of six. She now resides in Palermo.
Career Early career Vinci made her professional debut at an ITF tournament in Italy in 1999. Vinci also won the French Open in girls' doubles with fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta that same year.Flavia Pennetta at the WTA Tour's official website 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, 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 for 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 Ivanovic in the second. She then fell to fellow Italian Corinna Dentoni in the qualifications for Hobart International. Vinci lost to eventual quarterfinalist Carla Suárez Navarro in the first round of the Australian Open. Vinci also played for Italy in the Fed Cup World Group stage versus France. Italy won 5–0.
At her first clay-court event, Mexican Open 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 Indian Wells Open (defeated by Sybille Bammer), and fell in the qualifications for Miami Miami Open to Anastasia Rodionova.Roberta Vinci at the WTA Tour's official website 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 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.2009 Barcelona Ladies Open – Singles
Vinci reached the second round of the Morocco Open held in Fes. After she defeated Mariana Duque Marino in the first round, she lost to qualifier Polona Hercog in the second. At the Italian Open, Vinci lost in the first round to Kateryna Bondarenko. She then beat María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round of the Madrid Open, and then was beaten by Vera Dushevina in the second. She lost to ninth seed Victoria Azarenka in the first round at Roland Garros.
During the grass court season, Vinci reached the third round at Birmingham. She lost to Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets. The following week at s'Hertogenbosch, she lost her opening match to Daniela Hantuchová. At Wimbledon, Vinci beat No. 31, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, in the second round to set up a third-round matchup with No. 2, Serena Williams, and lost. At the US Open, Vinci lost in the first round to Jelena Janković.
2010 Vinci lost in the third round of the Australian Open to Maria Kirilenko. She reached the third round of both Indian Wells and Miami, losing to Yanina Wickmayer and Venus Williams respectively. She reached the final at Barcelona but failed to defend her title, losing to fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone.
At the Roland Garros, Vinci lost in the second round to Flavia Pennetta. She fell to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round of Wimbledon.
She lost her opening match at the US Open to Venus Williams. She qualified for the Pan Pacific Open but lost to Vera Zvonareva in the third round. Vinci also qualified for the China Open but lost to Vera Dushevina in the second round. Vinci lost to eventual champion Ana Ivanovic in the Ladies Linz semifinals, 3–6, 5–7. She won her third WTA title in Luxembourg against Julia Görges, 6–3, 6–4 in the final.
2011
Vinci reached the quarterfinals of Hobart losing to sixth seed Jarmila Gajdošová. She lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Alicia Molik. She reached the semifinals of the Pattaya Open, after defeating second seed Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals but then lost to Sara Errani. The rest of her year continued with dismal results with only one win and six losses over the course of six events from Dubai to Stuttgart.
She then entered the Barcelona Open, where she was the sixth 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 a three-set final. This was her second time winning this tournament and her third clay-court title. She then entered the Madrid tournament, where she reached the third round before losing to Li Na, the first time she had ever won a set against her. She lost in the third round of the French Open to Victoria Azarenka.
Her next major success came at the UNICEF Open where she was the seventh seed. After wins over third seed Yanina Wickmayer and fifth seed Dominika Cibulková in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, she beat Jelena Dokić in the final. This was her second title of 2011 and her first title on grass. As the 29th seed at the Wimbledon Championships she reached the third round where she lost to eighth seed and eventual champion Petra Kvitová.
Her first post Wimbledon event was at Budapest where she was the top seed. She beat third seed Klára Zakopalová and then seventh seed Irina-Cameilia Begu in the final. This was her third tour title of the season.
Vinci began the American hardcourt swing in Carlsbad as the ninth seed. She was upset in the second round by Zheng Jie. In Toronto, she scored the biggest win of her career, beating defending champion and world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets, in the second round of the Canadian Open. 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 Ivanovic. She lost in the quarterfinals to tenth seed Sam Stosur in two sets.
As the 18th seed at the US Open, Vinci made it to the third round. In the first round, she defeated Irina-Camelia Begu. She then defeated Alizé Cornet in the second round but was sent home by Andrea Petkovic in the third round. Despite losing in the third round, this was Vinci's best performance so far in the US Open.
She qualified for the Tournament of Champions and was seeded fourth, but lost to eventual champion Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals.
2012: World No. 1 in doubles, first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal
Starting the year at Auckland, she was seeded sixth 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 Apia International Sydney and the Australian Open to Daniela Hantuchová and Zheng Jie, respectively.
Her next tournament came at the Paris Indoors where she was seeded seventh. 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 two tournaments, the Monterrey Open and the Mexican Open. 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 travelled to the Indian Wells Open. Seeded 23rd, she beat Sílvia Soler Espinosa and 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 tenth seeded Serena Williams in the third round of the Miami Open. She next participated at the Barcelona Open where she was the defending champ but lost in the second round to Simona Halep. Ironically, the tournament champion was Sara Errani, her doubles partner. Vinci and Errani managed to win the doubles title of the Barcelona 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 Estoril Open as the No. 1 seed. She made it to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Kaia Kanepi. Her next tournament was Madrid, where 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 French Open as the 17th seed and lost in the first round to Sofia Arvidsson.
Her first event after the French Open was the Birmingham Classic, where she was the No. 4 seed. She reached the quarterfinals before losing to Zheng Jie. She then was the No. 6 seed at the UNICEF Open, where she was the defending champion. She lost in the quarterfinals to Kirsten Flipkens 4–6, 6–7. She then competed in the 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 her fourth round match to Tamira Paszek 2–6, 2–6.
Vinci also won six doubles titles with the fellow Italian Sara Errani including the Madrid Open, the Italian Open and the French Open in 2012. She and Errani also made the finals of Miami and Melbourne in that year.
Vinci lost her opening match at the London Olympics to Kim Clijsters, 1–6, 4–6.