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Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian former
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. In doubles tennis, she is a Career Grand Slam champion having won all
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
tournaments and reached the world No. 1 position. She also reached a career-high singles
ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...
of world No. 7, in May 2016. At 33 years and 4 days old, she became the oldest player ever to debut in the top 10. Vinci rose to global prominence at the 2015 US Open, where she defeated world No. 1
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...
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 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 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
and 2014 Australian Opens, and 2014 Wimbledon titles with regular partner Errani. In doing so, they became the fifth pair in tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam. She and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Pennetta, and Schiavone beat the Belgian team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final, granting Italy its first
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
trophy. With the Italian team, Vinci won the Fed Cup again in
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
and
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, 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 Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), in July 2012. Radwańska won 20 WTA Tour sing ...
. 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 Camila Giorgi (; born 30 December 1991) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She had a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 26, which was achieved on 22 October 2018. Giorgi was known for her aggressive style of pla ...
in the fourth round, but subsequently lost to 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 Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...
, the daughter of Angelo Vinci, an accountant, and his wife Luisa, a homemaker;Roberta Vinci
at the
WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...
's official website
she has an elder brother, Francesco. Vinci was introduced to tennis at the age of six. She now resides in
Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
.


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 Flavia Pennetta (; born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis pla ...
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 The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
and defeated
Anna-Lena Grönefeld Anna-Lena Grönefeld (also spelled Groenefeld; married name Herzgerodt; born 4 June 1985) is a German former professional tennis player. Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2019, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2006 M ...
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 Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a best WTA doubles ranking of 11, o ...
in the first round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
. Vinci also played for
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
World Group stage versus
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. 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 is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
Miami Open to
Anastasia Rodionova Anastasia Ivanovna Rodionova (; born 12 May 1982) is a Russian-born Australian former professional tennis player. Rodionova has won 11 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as eight singles and 13 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 16 Au ...
. 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. 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 Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also has had ...
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 Vera Yevgenyevna Dushevina (; born 6 October 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won one singles title and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour. As a junior, she won the Wimbledon Championships, beating Maria Sharapova in ...
in the second. She lost to ninth seed
Victoria Azarenka Victoria Fiodaraŭna Azarenka (born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), having held the position for a total of 51 weeks ...
in the first round at Roland Garros. During the grass court season, Vinci reached the third round at
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
. She lost to Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets. The following week at s'Hertogenbosch, she lost her opening match to
Daniela Hantuchová Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Open, defeating Martin ...
. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, Vinci beat No. 31,
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (; born 3 July 1991) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 11 on 8 November 2021. Pavlyuchenkova has won twelve singles titles ...
, 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 The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
to Maria Kirilenko. She reached the third round of both Indian Wells and
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, losing to Yanina Wickmayer and Venus Williams respectively. She reached the final at
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
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 Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
. She lost her opening match at the US Open to Venus Williams. She qualified for the Pan Pacific Open but lost to
Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲerə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ran ...
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 Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
against Julia Görges, 6–3, 6–4 in the final.


2011

Vinci reached the quarterfinals of
Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
losing to sixth seed
Jarmila Gajdošová Jarmila Wolfe (née Gajdošová, formerly Groth; born 26 April 1987) is a Slovak-Australian former tennis player. In her career, she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 14 singles and ten doubles titles on ...
. She lost in the first round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
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 Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
to
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
. 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 Lucie Hradecká (; born 21 May 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in October 2012. She w ...
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 The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
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 Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001 WTA Tour Championships, 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 WTA Tour ...
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 The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
she reached the third round where she lost to eighth seed and eventual champion
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...
. Her first post Wimbledon event was at
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
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 Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is an inactive Danish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, hold ...
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 Irina-Camelia Begu (born 26 August 1990) is a Romanian tennis player. She reached a career-high WTA ranking, WTA singles ranking of world No. 22 , in August 2016. Two years later, she reached her highest ranking in doubles, also No. 22. She is ...
. She then defeated Alizé Cornet in the secound 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 Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, 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 The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
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 Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title, after previously being runner-up in 2007 Wimbledo ...
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 Nina Bratchikova (; born 28 June 1985) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Bratchikova won one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour, and in addition nine singles and 35 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 10 December ...
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 Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001 WTA Tour Championships, 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 WTA Tour ...
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 Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian inactive professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam up ...
. 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 The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
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 The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
as the 21st seed. She defeated
Ashleigh Barty Ashleigh Jacinta Barty (born 24 April 1996) is an Australian former professional tennis player and cricketer. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
, 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 The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
in 2012. She and Errani also made the finals of
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
and
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
in that year. Vinci lost her opening match at the London Olympics to Kim Clijsters, 1–6, 4–6. At the Canadian Open in Montreal, Vinci defeated Yanina Wickmayer 6–2, 3–6, 7–5, after coming back from a 1–5 and match point deficit in the third set. In the second round she crushed 11th seed, Ana Ivanovic, 6–0, 6–0 in 45 minutes. After she defeated the 6th seed
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 34 wee ...
with the result of 6–2, 7–6, but she was beaten in the quarterfinals by the Czech Lucie Šafářová in straight sets. Two weeks later Vinci defeated Jelena Janković 7–5, 6–3 to win her seventh WTA title at the Texas Tennis Open without losing a set in the entire tournament. At the US Open, Vinci started her journey by defeating
Urszula Radwańska Urszula Radwańska (; born 7 December 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Radwańska has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as seven singles and eleven doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 8 October 2012, she reac ...
, 6–1, 6–1, and followed that victory up with a second round victory over Yaroslava Shvedova. In the third round, she defeated the 13th seed, Dominika Cibulková. In the fourth round, she defeated
Agnieszka Radwańska Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), in July 2012. Radwańska won 20 WTA Tour sing ...
in straight sets to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. She lost in the quarterfinals to her doubles partner Errani, 6–2, 6–4. Vinci partnered Errani for the US Open. They were seeded No. 2, behind the defending champions
Liezel Huber Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a South African- American retired tennis player who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara B ...
and
Lisa Raymond Lisa Raymond (born August 10, 1973) is an American former professional tennis player who has achieved notable success in doubles tennis. Raymond has eleven major titles to her name: six in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. On June 12, ...
. Errani and Vinci reached the final, defeating Czechs
Andrea Hlaváčková Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ...
and Lucie Hradecká for the title. Following the US Open, Vinci travelled to Asia for the Pan Pacific Open. She made it to the third round where she lost to top seed Victoria Azarenka. At
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, she lost her opener to qualifier Lourdes Domínguez Lino. As a result of her doubles success alongside Sara Errani, they qualified for the WTA Championships for the first time. However, they lost to Russians Nadia Petrova and Maria Kirilenko in the semifinals. Vinci once again qualified for the Tournament of Champions. In the round robin stage, she recorded wins over
Hsieh Su-wei Hsieh Su-wei (; ; born 4 January 1986) is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. A former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in Doubles tennis, doubles with nine Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles, she is rega ...
and Daniela Hantuchová and had a loss to Caroline Wozniacki. She advanced to the semifinals where she lost to second seed and eventual champion Petrova. Vinci ended 2012 in top 20 for the first time at No. 16 and No. 1 in for the first time also doubles ahead of her partner Errani.


2013

Vinci began 2013 by losing her opening match to
Jarmila Gajdošová Jarmila Wolfe (née Gajdošová, formerly Groth; born 26 April 1987) is a Slovak-Australian former tennis player. In her career, she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 14 singles and ten doubles titles on ...
at
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
. She reached the quarterfinals at
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
where she lost to eventual champion Agnieszka Radwańska. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
where she was seeded 16th, she lost to Elena Vesnina in the third round. She partnered Sara Errani and won the doubles event. She was seeded fifth at the Open GdF Suez but lost to German Mona Barthel in the second round. Vinci lost to Urszula Radwańska in the second round at Qatar Open. Then, at
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova, Samantha Stosur and Angelique Kerber en route to the semifinals. She eventually succumbed to doubles partner Errani in straight sets. Vinci lost in the third round at Indian Wells to Lara Arruabarrena. She improved her performance at
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, reaching the quarterfinals. There, she lost to 22nd seed Jelena Janković. Vinci won her eighth WTA title when defeated top-seeded Petra Kvitová, 7–6, 6–1, to win the Katowice Open in Poland. Roberta began her clay court season by losing her opening matches at
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
and
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
. She reached the third round at
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, but lost to Simona Halep. Vinci lost to Serena Williams in the fourth round at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. She was the top seed at Rosmalen but lost to Halep again in the second round. She reached the fourth round at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
but lost to Li Na. After that, Vinci competed at Internazionali di Palermo and won her 9th title by defeating doubles partner Sara Errani in the final. Vinci lost to Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals at the Southern California Open at Carlsbad. At the Canadian Open, she lost to Dominika Cibulková in the third round. Then, Vinci lost to Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open. Had she won this match, she would've entered the top 10 singles rankings for the first time in her career. At the US Open, Vinci reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal, this time she lost to Flavia Pennetta. During the Asian swing, she lost to Lucie Šafářová in the second round at the Pan Pacific Open after receiving a first round bye. At
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, she lost in the third round to Angelique Kerber. Her next tournament was at the Kremlin Cup. She lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. Vinci and Errani once again qualified for the Tour Championships but lost in the semifinals again to a Russian pair, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Vinci ended the year at No. 14 in singles, her highest ever and No. 1 in doubles for the third straight season.


2014: Career Grand Slam in doubles

Vinci began the season at the Auckland Open as the top seed. She fell in the first round to rising star Ana Konjuh in three sets. Then at the Sydney International, she lost to doubles partner Sara Errani in the first round. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Vinci was the 12th seed but fell in the first round to Zheng Jie. In the doubles event, she partnered Errani and won the title, defeating Russian pair Makarova and Vesnina. Then, she competed at the Open GdF Suez but lost in the first round again to
Elina Svitolina Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina (, ; born 12 September 1994) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 3 in singles and No. 108 in doubles by the WTA rankings, WTA. Svitolina has won 18 WTA Tour single ...
. Her bad form continued with first round losses at
Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
and
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
to Tsvetana Pironkova and
Sorana Cîrstea Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-best ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March ...
, respectively. Vinci received a first bye at Indian Wells and defeated
Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 5 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Keys has won ten WTA Tour-level career singles ...
in her opening match for her first victory of 2014. However, she lost to
Casey Dellacqua Casey Dellacqua ( ; born 11 February 1985) is an Australian former professional tennis player and current commentator. Her best singles results on the WTA Tour have been semifinal appearances at the 2012 Texas Tennis Open and 2014 Birmingham ...
in the following round. She once again lost her opening match at
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, in straight sets, after having a first-round bye. Vinci failed to defend her title at the Katowice Open. She beat qualifier Ksenia Pervak in round one but lost to Camila Giorgi the following round. Vinci faced Petra Kvitová during Italy's semifinal
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
tie against Czech team but lost in straight sets. She began her clay court season at
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
. She beat
Annika Beck Annika Beck (; born 16 February 1994) is a German former professional tennis player. She started playing tennis at the age of four when introduced to the game by her parents. A baseliner whose favorite shot is forehand, and favorite surface is ...
in the first round, but lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in straight sets. In the doubles event, Vinci and Errani were the champions, overcoming
Cara Black Cara Cavell Black (born 17 February 1979) is a Zimbabwean former professional tennis player. Black was primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA Tour and 11 ITF Women's Circuit, ITF doubles titles. A former List of WTA number 1 ranked dou ...
and Sania Mirza in the final. Vinci reached her first quarterfinal of the year at the Portugal Open. She defeated Alexandra Cadanțu and Yanina Wickmayer en route. She then lost to Elena Vesnina. At the Madrid Open, she won her opening match against Daniela Hantuchová and went on to defeat Caroline Wozniacki in the second round. She lost to Radwańska again in the third round. Playing on home soil at the Italian Open, Vinci lost in the first round to Ekaterina Makarova. She was seeded 20th at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
but lost to Pauline Parmentier in the first round. Vinci and Errani lost in the doubles final to world number ones Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-wei. She then competed at
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
, but lost to Daniela Hantuchová this time in the first round. Her disastrous run continued at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
when she lost to Donna Vekić in the first round. However, she made history in the doubles event when she and Errani won defeating Hungarian/French pair Tímea Babos and
Kristina Mladenovic Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Her best singles ranking is world No. 10. She is a nine-time Grand Slam ...
in the final, completing a career Grand Slam in doubles. Vinci posted good results the following month. She was the second seed at the Bucharest Open. She defeated Alexandra Dulgheru and Sílvia Soler Espinosa for a place in the quarterfinals. She then reached her first semifinal of 2014 with a victory over seventh seed
Petra Cetkovská Petra Cetkovská (; born 8 February 1985) is a retired Czech tennis player. Having turned professional in 2000, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 25, on 18 June 2012. Over her career, Cetkovská defeated top-ten players Mari ...
. She then easily defeated Kristína Kučová and reached the final where she was defeated in straight sets by top seed and home favourite Simona Halep. Vinci is next competed at
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
where she was the second seed, she defeated
Anna Tatishvili Anna Tatishvili ( ka, ანა ტატიშვილი, tr, ; born February 3, 1990) is a Georgian-American former professional tennis player. In her career, Tatishvili won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, 2014 at the Linz Open, partneri ...
in the first round. In the second round, she faced Dulgheru again and advanced to the quarterfinals when Dulgheru retired because of a shoulder injury. Vinci faced
Kurumi Nara is a Japanese former professional tennis player. In her career, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, with seven singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Women's Circuit. On 18 August 2014, she achieved he ...
in the quarterfinals and won in straight sets. In the semifinals, she faced rising star Ana Konjuh, setting up a rematch of their opener in Auckland, Vinci won this time, defeating her in straight sets. In her second consecutive final, Vinci lost to the top seed again, Caroline Wozniacki. In August, Vinci lost in the first round at
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
and
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová and Sabine Lisicki respectively. Vinci and Errani won their fifth doubles title of the year together in the doubles event at Montreal. They defeated Cara Black and Sania Mirza in the final. At the US Open, Vinci won her first Grand Slam singles match of 2014 by defeating Paula Ormaechea in the first round followed by a three-set win over Irina-Camelia Begu. She then lost to eventual semifinalist Peng Shuai in the third round. Vinci fell out of the top 40 as a result. During the Asian swing, Vinci suffered another upset at the Guangzhou International Open where she was seeded sixth. She lost to Zhu Lin in the first round. Then at
Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...
, she fell to Casey Dellacqua in the first round. Vinci found her good form at the China Open, defeating Yaroslava Shvedova and upsetting world No. 6, Agnieszka Radwańska, in the early rounds. Her run continued with another upset of Ekaterina Makarova in the third round. She booked her place in the quarterfinals where she faced Petra Kvitová. She lost to the Czech in straight sets. At the Luxembourg Open, Vinci the sixth seed easily defeated Tereza Smitková in the first round but then lost to Beck in straight sets. Vinci and Errani once again qualified for the WTA Finals as the top seeds. They were forced to retire in their first hurdle to Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik due to an injury suffered by Errani. Vinci ended the season outside the top 40 for the first time since 2010 at No. 49.


2015: Grand Slam finalist

Vinci kicked off her 2015 season by playing at the Auckland Open. She lost in the first round to seventh seed CoCo Vandeweghe. The following week, she played at the Hobart International. Seeded ninth, Vinci made it to her first quarterfinals of the year defeating wildcard Olivia Rogowska and Annika Beck. In the quarterfinals, she fell to eventual champion Heather Watson in two sets. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Vinci overcame Bojana Jovanovski to reach round two but lost to tenth seed Ekaterina Makarova. Seeded third at the Rio Open, Vinci was upset in the second round by qualifier
Verónica Cepede Royg Verónica Cepede Royg (; born 21 January 1992) is a Paraguayan former tennis player. On 7 August 2017, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of No. 73. Her best doubles ranking is No. 85, achieved on 19 September 2016. Cepede Royg has wo ...
. She then retired in her first-round match against Kiki Bertens at the Mexican Open with a shoulder injury. Vinci exited the second round at the Indian Wells Open to 24th seed Sabine Lisicki. The following week at the Miami Open, she dropped her opening match against qualifier Tatjana Maria. During the week, it was also announced that Vinci and her long-term doubles partner Sara Errani decided to discontinue playing doubles together. They issued a joint statement stating that they had decided to pursue more in their singles career. Beginning her clay-court season seeded sixth at the Morocco Open, Vinci lost to fellow Italian Karin Knapp in the second round. She then posted good results at the Madrid Open. She reached the fourth round for the second year in a row beating Monica Puig and Alizé Cornet. She ended up losing in the fourth round to 13th seed Lucie Šafářová. Ranked 44 at the Italian Open, Vinci was defeated in the first round by world No. 41, Heather Watson. Seeded fourth at the Nürnberger Versicherungscup, she reached her first final of the season but came up short in the final losing to sixth seed and compatriot Karin Knapp, in three sets. Ranked 38 at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Vinci lost in the first round to 29th seed Alizé Cornet. Vinci began her grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic. She was defeated in the first round by qualifier Tímea Babos. At the
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
, she lost in the first round to Caroline Garcia. Ranked 35 at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, Vinci lost in the first round to Aleksandra Krunić. After Wimbledon, Vinci competed at the Bucharest Open where she was the second seed and last year's finalist. She lost in the second round to Aleksandra Krunić in striaght sets. Last year finalist at the İstanbul Cup, Vinci reached the quarterfinals beating seventh seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and qualifier
Alexandra Panova Alexandra Alexandrovna Panova (; born 2 March 1989) is a Russian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. She has a career-high WTA doubles ranking of world No. 30 achieved on 28 October 2024. She peaked at No. 71 in singles on 3 ...
. Vinci then lost in the quarterfinals to
Magdaléna Rybáriková Magdaléna Rybáriková (; born 4 October 1988) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. In her career, she won four singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Rybáriková reached the semifinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Champion ...
. Vinci then reached her second quarterfinal at the Canadian Open by defeating Karin Knapp, qualifier Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, and Daria Gavrilova all in straight sets. She then succumbed to world No. 1, Serena Williams, in the quarterfinals. She then lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round at the Cincinnati Open. Vinci qualified for the main draw at the Connecticut Open and easily defeated
Eugenie Bouchard Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; , ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian professional tennis and pickleball player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player repr ...
in the first round. She then was defeated in the second round in three sets by third seed Caroline Wozniacki. Ranked 43 at the US Open, Vinci won her first three rounds defeating Vania King, Denisa Allertová, and Mariana Duque Mariño. Vinci then reached her third US Open quarterfinal in four years after Eugenie Bouchard withdrew a few hours before their fourth-round match after she slipped and hit her head in the locker room. In the quarterfinals, Vinci defeated Kristina Mladenovic to reach the semifinals. At 32, Vinci became the oldest first-time Grand Slam semifinalist in the Open Era. She then dispatched defending champion Serena Williams in three sets en route to her first Grand Slam final, while also ending Williams' attempt at a calendar-year Grand Slam. Vinci was ranked 42 places lower than Williams at that time. Numerous major media outlets reported about Vinci's win over Williams being one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in the final in straight sets in what was the first all-Italian Grand Slam final in the Open Era. By virtue of her run to the final in New York, Vinci returned to the top 20 for the first time since June 2014. Seeded 15th at the Wuhan Open, Vinci defeated qualifier Danka Kovinić and Irina-Camelia Begu in the first two rounds. In the third round, she stunned third seed and defending champion, Petra Kvitová. She then defeated eighth seed Karolína Plíšková in two sets to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Vinci lost to eventual champion Venus Williams in three sets. In this match, Vinci had a 6–5 lead in the third set and even had one match point before Venus came back and won the match. Seeded 15th at the China Open, Vinci lost in the third round to qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Seeded third at the Linz Open, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier Aleksandra Krunić. Vinci's final tournament of the year was the first edition of the WTA Elite Trophy. Seeded fourth, Vinci beat 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in her first rubber in two sets. In her second rubber, she lost to Alternate Anna Karolína Schmiedlová. Having a 1–1 record in Group D, Vinci reached the semifinals losing to top-seed and eventual champion Venus Williams. Vinci ended the year ranked 15.


2016: First title since 2013, top-10 debut

Vinci started her season at the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
. Seeded eighth, she started the tournament by defeating Jelena Janković in the first round, 3–6, 6–2, 6–4. She then dominated Dominika Cibulková in their second round match 6–1, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, she lost to former world No. 1, two-time Australian Open champion, and eventual champion, Victoria Azarenka, 1–6, 2–6. After Brisbane, she competed at
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
where she lost in the first round to Samantha Stosur. As the 13th seed at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Vinci reached the third round after beating qualifier Tamira Paszek and world No. 74, Irina Falconi. In the third round, she suffered a shock loss to world No. 82, Anna-Lena Friedsam, 6–0, 4–6, 4–6. After the Australian Open, Vinci played at the inaugural St. Petersburg Trophy. Seeded second, she reached the final defeating Yanina Wickmayer, Tímea Babos, and fourth seed Ana Ivanovic. In the final, Vinci beat top seed Belinda Bencic, 6–4, 6–3. This was Vinci's tenth career WTA singles title, her first since 2013, and her first Premier-level title. Seeded seventh at the
Dubai Tennis Championships The Dubai Tennis Championships (also known as the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's and Women's Champ ...
, Vinci lost in the first round to qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova, 0–6, 6–4, 3–6. Despite losing in the first round to Shvedova, Vinci rose to a career-high ranking of 10 as neither Lucie Šafářová nor Venus Williams defended their ranking points from the previous year, she became the oldest female tennis player to make her top-10 singles debut, four days after her 33rd birthday. Seeded 9th at the Qatar Total Open, Vinci defeated Lesia Tsurenko, Daria Kasatkina, and wildcard Çağla Büyükakçay to reach the quarterfinals. There, she lost to 3rd seed Agnieszka Radwańska, 6–3, 2–6, 3–6. As the top seed at the Malaysian Open, Vinci suffered a shock loss in the first round to world No. 153,
Chang Kai-chen Chang Kai-chen ( zh, t=張凱貞, p=Zhāng Kǎizhēn; ; born January 13, 1991), also known as Kelly Chang, is a Taiwanese former professional tennis player.https://www.wtatennis.com/players/313923/- Career Her father is Chang Chin-lai and mo ...
, 7–5, 2–6, 1–6. As the ninth seed at the Indian Wells Open, Vinci received a bye into the second round and faced Margarita Gasparyan. Vinci came through in a three-set thriller, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6. Vinci had to save two match points in order to defeat Gasparyan in the second round. She then won comfortably against 17th seed
Elina Svitolina Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina (, ; born 12 September 1994) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 3 in singles and No. 108 in doubles by the WTA rankings, WTA. Svitolina has won 18 WTA Tour single ...
in the third round 6–1, 6–3. In the fourth round, she was forced to retire trailing 2–6, 0–2 to Magdaléna Rybáriková. Seeded ninth at the Miami Open, Vinci received a bye into the second round where she beat
Lucie Hradecká Lucie Hradecká (; born 21 May 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in October 2012. She w ...
, 1–6, 6–4, 7–6. In the third round, Vinci was defeated by 22nd seed
Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 5 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Keys has won ten WTA Tour-level career singles ...
, 6–4, 6–4. At the 2016 Fed Cup World Group play-offs, Vinci represented Italy in their tie against Spain. Vinci lost both of her rubbers to Carla Suárez Navarro and
Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Venezuelan-born Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Asso ...
. Spain defeated Italy 4–0. Vinci began her clay court season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Seeded sixth, Vinci reached the quarterfinals beating Ekaterina Makarova and German wildcard Julia Görges. In the quarterfinals, she lost to German qualifier and eventual finalist Laura Siegemund 1–6, 4–6. Seeded 7th at the Madrid Open, Vinci lost in the first round to world No. 52, Danka Kovinić, 4–6, 2–6. Seeded seventh and given a first-round bye at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Vinci was defeated in the second round by world No. 23, Johanna Konta, 6–0, 6–4. Vinci's final tournament before the French Open was the Nürnberger Versicherungscup. As the top seed, she lost in the second round to qualifier and eventual champion, Kiki Bertens, 4–6, 6–7. Seeded seventh at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Vinci was upset in the first round by world No. 65, Kateryna Bondarenko, 6–1, 6–3. Vinci played only one grass-court warm-up tournament before Wimbledon. Seeded second at
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
, she lost in the second round to Ekaterina Makarova 6–4, 4–6, 3–6. Seeded sixth at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, Vinci reached the third round defeating Alison Riske and lucky loser Duan Yingying. She lost then to 27th seed CoCo Vandeweghe in straight sets. Vinci started her US Open Series at the Canadian Open. Seeded seventh, she lost in the third round to world No. 33, Daria Kasatkina, 5–7, 3–6. Representing
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
at the Rio Olympics, Vinci was defeated in the first round by Anna Karolína Schmiedlová, 7–5, 6–4. Seeded sixth at the Western & Southern Open, Vinci was defeated in the third round by ninth seed Carla Suárez Navarro, 6–1, 7–5. Seeded second at the Connecticut Open, Vinci lost in the quarterfinals to qualifier Johanna Larsson 6–7, 1–6. Vinci was seeded seventh at the US Open, where she has finalist points to defend from last year. She reached the quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years, defeating Anna-Lena Friedsam, Christina McHale, Carina Witthöft, and Lesia Tsurenko. Vinci then lost in the quarterfinals to second seed and eventual champion Angelique Kerber, 5–7, 0–6. As a result, Vinci failed to defend her finalist points from last year, so she fell from the top 10. Seeded 13th at the Wuhan Open, Vinci was defeated in the second round by Yaroslava Shvedova, 7–5, 6–2. Seeded 13th at the China Open, she lost in the second round to Caroline Wozniacki, 3–6, 2–6. Vinci's final tournament of the year was the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai. Seeded fifth, Vinci lost her first match to 9th seed Barbora Strýcová, 4–6, 3–6. In her final match, Vinci was defeated by third seed and eventual champion Petra Kvitová, 6–1, 6–2. In November, Vinci was contemplating retirement from Tennis due to her poor results and tiredness. However, on 21 November 2016, Vinci decided to play at least one more year. Vinci ended the year ranked 18.


2017

Vinci began the season at the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
. Seeded eighth, she started the tournament off by beating lucky loser Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round, 7–6, 6–7, 7–6. She then defeated Misaki Doi in the second round 6–4, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Vinci lost to third seed and eventual champion Karolína Plíšková, 6–3, 2–6, 2–6. Next, Vinci played at the Sydney International. Seeded ninth, she was defeated in the second round by Barbora Strýcová, 6–2, 6–3. As the 15th seed at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Vinci lost in the first round to world No. 35 and eventual semifinalist, CoCo Vandeweghe, 1–6, 6–7. After the Australian Open, Vinci went to compete at the St. Petersburg Trophy, where she was the sixth seed and the defending champion. She started off the tournament by beating Tímea Babos in the first round, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4 before she defeated qualifier Andrea Petkovic, 6–4, 6–4. In the quarterfinals, Vinci was defeated by eventual champion Kristina Mladenovic, 6–1, 6–4. Due to losing in the quarterfinals, Vinci failed to defend her title. At the Qatar Open, Vinci lost in the first round to qualifier
Lauren Davis Lauren Davis (born October 9, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Known for her aggressive backhand, speed, and clay-court strength, she has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour and reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ran ...
, 2–6, 3–6. Seeded 16th at the
Dubai Tennis Championships The Dubai Tennis Championships (also known as the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's and Women's Champ ...
, Vinci was upset in the first round by world No. 55, Kristýna Plíšková, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3. Vinci had a 6–3, 5–4 lead and was serving for the match before Plíšková made a comeback to win the match. Seeded 26th at Indian Wells, Vinci received a first round bye. She lost in the third round to eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2–6, 6–2, 1–6. Seeded 25th at the Miami Open, Vinci was stunned in the second round by qualifier Taylor Townsend, 6–3, 6–2. After Miami, Vinci played at the first edition of the Ladies Open Biel Bienne. As the fourth seed, she was upset in the first round by world No. 58, Kristýna Plíšková, 6–4, 6–4. Vinci began her clay-court season at the Porsche Grand Prix. In the first round, Vinci lost to newly returned Maria Sharapova, 5–7, 3–6. Vinci had her first win since Indian Wells at the Madrid Open by defeating Daria Kasatkina in the first round, 6–1, 1–6, 6–1. In the second round, she lost to 3rd seed and eventual champion Simona Halep, 3–6, 6–2, 6–7. Vinci led 3–6, 6–2, 5–2 before Halep came back to win the match. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, she lost in the first round to Ekaterina Makarova, 2–6, 1–6. As the 31st seed at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Vinci was defeated in the first round by the previous year's Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig, 6–3, 3–6, 6–2. Vinci played one grass-court warm-up tournament to prepare herself for Wimbledon. As the sixth seed at the Mallorca Open, she beat lucky loser and compatriot Sara Errani in the first round 6–2, 6–1. In the second round, she defeated qualifier Kirsten Flipkens, 6–4, 5–7, 6–2, to reach the quarterfinals for the first time at this tournament. In the quarterfinals, Vinci was defeated by third seed and defending champion, Caroline Garcia, 6–2, 7–6. Seeded 31st at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, Vinci lost in the first round to Kristýna Plíšková, 6–7, 2–6.


2018: Retirement

Having announced her plans to retire after the Italian Open, Vinci continued to play sporadically through the early part of the season. She faced Aleksandra Krunić in the opening round of the Italian Open, but lost the final match of her career in a keenly contested three set match. She said of her retirement: "I'm crying now but I'm happy, I'm happy for what I've accomplished".


2022: Padel career

In 2022, partnering with Giulia Sussarello, Vinci joined the professional padel circuit. She finished the season with a 28–12 record and reached a ranking of world no. 66 on the World Padel Tour. Vinci also represented Italy at the International Padel Federation's Padel World Championship, combining with fellow tennis retiree Emily Stellato to defeat Belgium in the penultimate bronze medal match.


Playing style

Vinci is known for her doubles prowess, her ability at the net, and relentless use of the backhand slice, although she regrets switching her backhand grip to one-handed at the age of 18. Vinci has also been praised for her excellent movement and her sense of the court. Due to her backhand slice, powerful forehand and excellent court covering, her game is often compared to
Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a r ...
.


Career statistics


Grand Slam finals


Singles: 1 (runner-up)


Doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runner-ups)


Grand Slam performance timelines


Singles

Note: Vinci received a walkover in the 2015 US Open, after
Eugenie Bouchard Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; , ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian professional tennis and pickleball player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player repr ...
sustained concussion. This did not count a win.


Doubles


Team competition

*
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
,
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
,
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
and 2013 Fed Cup


See also

* Italy Fed Cup team * Italy at the 2004 Summer Olympics * Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics *
Italy at the 2012 Summer Olympics Italy competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This nation has competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except for the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. The Italian National Olympic Committe ...


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinci, Roberta 1983 births Living people Italian female tennis players Olympic tennis players for Italy Sportspeople from Taranto Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics French Open junior champions French Open champions US Open (tennis) champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' doubles Australian Open (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players ITF World Champions Female tennis players playing padel 21st-century Italian sportswomen