Silvia Farina-Elia (; born 27 April 1972) is a former professional

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 from Italy. She won three WTA singles titles, reached the quarterfinals of the

2003 Wimbledon Championships The 2003 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on Grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. It was the 117th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from 23 Jun ...

and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in May 2002. Farina-Elia won her first ITF title at

Caltagirone Caltagirone (; or ; ) is an inland city and municipality () in the Metropolitan City of Catania, on the island (and region) of Sicily, Southern Italy, about southwest of Catania. It is the fifth most populous municipality of the Metropolita ...

in 1991 and her first WTA tournament at

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

in 2001. She made her debut Grand Slam appearance at the

1991 French Open The 1991 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 27 May until 9 June. It was the 90th staging of the French Open, and the second Grand ...

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 Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (; born 16 May 1970) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. A former world No. 3 in both singles and doubles, Sabatini was one of the leading players from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, amassing 41 titles a ...

, Roland Garros) in 1994 and won her first doubles title the next year. In 1996, she represented Italy at the

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. 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 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 ...

title, at the

Internationaux de Strasbourg The Internationaux de Strasbourg (formally known as the Strasbourg Grand Prix) is a professional women's tennis tournament held in Strasbourg, France. The tournament has been organized in May since its inception in 1987 and serves as a warm-up eve ...

. She ended the year No. 14, what was to be her best year end finish and played in the

WTA Tour Championships WTA may refer to: Organizations *Washington Trails Association Washington Trails Association (WTA) is a non-profit organization that advocates protection of hiking trails and wilderness, conducts trail maintenance, and promotes hiking in Washin ...

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 Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 20 weeks, and as the world No. 1 in women's double ...

, 7–5, 0–6, 1–6 in the quarterfinals. Farina-Elia represented

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 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
/ref>

WTA career finals

Singles: 13 (3 titles, 10 runner-ups)

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

ITF finals

Singles (2–1)

Doubles (6–2)

Head-to-head record against players in the top 10

''Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.'' *

Dominique Monami Dominique Monami (born 31 May 1973) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She is her country's first ever top-10 tennis professional. Monami was born in Verviers. In 1995, she married her coach Bart Van Roost, with whom she has a daug ...

1–4 *

Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, ; born 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 209 weeks ( fifth-most of all time) and as the world No. ...

1–4 *

Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Ann Davenport Leach (born June 8, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 98 weeks (including as the year-end No. 1 four ...

1–7 *

Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (, ; ; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 26 weeks, and world No. 8 in doubles. Safina ...

0–2 *

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Aránzazu Isabel María "Arantxa" Sánchez Vicario (; born 18 December 1971) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 12 weeks, as well as ...

0–5 *

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 ...

1–1 *

Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...

1–1 *

Justine Henin Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian 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 117 weeks, i ...

0–3 *

0–6 *

Amélie Mauresmo Amélie Simone Mauresmo (; born 5 July 1979) is a French former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and tournament director. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 39 weeks. Maur ...

0–7 *

Jelena Janković Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian 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 W ...

2–1 *

Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked world No. 3 in women's singles and world No. 5 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Dem ...

1–3 *

Iva Majoli Iva Majoli (born 12 August 1977) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who played for both Yugoslavia and Croatia. She won three WTA Tier I singles tournaments and upset the world No. 1, Martina Hingis, to win the women's singles title ...

0–4 *

Jana Novotná Jana Novotná (; 2 October 1968 – 19 November 2017) was a Czech professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in 1997, and as the world No. 1 in women's doubles for 67 weeks. ...

1–5 *

Anna Kournikova Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova Iglesias (née Kournikova; ; ; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian model and television personality, and former professional tennis player. Her appearance and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars ...

3–4 *

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 ...

1–0 *

Nadia Petrova Nadezhda Viktorovna "Nadia" Petrova ( ; born 8 June 1982) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A former top-five player in both singles and doubles, she reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in the world in both disciplines (doing s ...

0–4 *

Karina Habšudová Karina Habšudová (; born 2 August 1973) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as 10 in the world (1997). Together with Karol Kučera, she won the 1998 Hopman Cup, Hopman Cup in 1998. Her best performance at ...

2-1

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farina-Elia, Silvia 1972 births Living people Italian female tennis players Olympic tennis players for Italy Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Hopman Cup competitors Tennis players from Milan