The two tennis legends, the only Italians to win a Slam, talk about themselves on stage at the Trento Sports Festival
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The sense of friendship that remains, amidst bickering that is more joking than real, the desire to stay in sport and tennis and to pass on something to young people. Slam winners, the only two Italians to have done so, Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta took to the small stage of the Trento Philharmonic with the desire to tell their story lightly, talking about themselves beyond sport
brilliant friends
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And they did it very well. Cristina Fantoni, who was leading the “Amiche geniali” meeting, asked them everything, even to serve a sandwich which would later be called Schiavetta. And they were always game, as fun and talented as they were on the tennis court. They came from an evening at the tennis club of Adriano Panatta, who inaugurated his pickleball camps in Treviso. “We played doubles against Panatta and Bertolucci. Who won? Us”, says Flavia. “Indeed they. But only because Hadrian was a little strange. He told me, you are at my house, I win”. And onwards between one joke and another, starting with the first meeting at the federal centre. Pennetta: “For me she, who was very closed, was a point of reference. I latched on and little by little she welcomed me. When she told me, I’m leaving the federal center, it was very bad for me. Then over time we collided, drifted apart, found each other again. For me Francesca is a partner, a shoulder, but on the pitch I wanted to kill her.”
challenge between friends
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How do you play against a friend? “The opponent has no face,” says Schiavone. We talk about their careers, Schiavone’s red clay kiss in Paris, but also Flavia’s retirement to New York, who confessed her intention to her friend before the start of the tournament which she would later win. “I thought, luckily, so I won’t have him around anymore,” says Schiavone, but obviously he’s joking. And from the end of one phase of life we move on to another, to the Legends, a circuit in which the two now play doubles. “Francesca convinced me, for a week I left the family at home and took some time for myself. Seeing everyone again was a breath of fresh air after dedicating myself to the family for so long.”
present and future
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We still joke about the differences between the two, with opposite characters but, Schiavone assures, an identical vision on technique, tactics and what to do for young people. Francesca already has her academy, Flavia gives her a hand. “Today’s kids are different from our generation. It’s difficult, but I’m learning a lot,” says Schiavone. “And Flavia, who is also a fantastic mother, gives me lots of advice”. For the future, the commitment is to do something to bring kids even closer to sport and give them more opportunities. Starting from the school system.
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