Francesca Schiavone was a masterful performer on the clay back in the day. And now, the Italian hopes to share her wisdom with a new pupil. It has been reported the Schiavone, the 2010 Roland Garros champion and a former World No.4, will coach Petra Martic during the clay-court season.
Schiavone has made a foray into coaching before, with former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, before she underwent a chemotherapy regime to combat a malignant tumor. Now with a clean bill of health, the charismatic Italian will make a return alongside a 30-year-old Croatian that has plenty of potential.
Martic, the current WTA World No.21, has reached the second week in four of her last seven Grand Slam appearances, which includes a career-best quarterfinal at Roland-Garros in 2019.
The pair plan to begin their journey together next week at Istanbul, and they will play through the clay-court season together (Madrid, Rome, Roland-Garros).