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Silvia Farina Elia

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Silvia Farina-Elia
Country (sports) Italy
ResidenceRome
Born (1972-04-27) 27 April 1972 (age 52)
Milan
Height1.72 m (5 ft 7+12 in)
Turned pro1988
Retired24 October 2005
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$3,688,252
Singles
Career record469–370
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 11 (20 May 2002)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (2004, 2005)
French Open4R (2001, 2002)
WimbledonQF (2003)
US Open4R (2002)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals1R (2001, 2002)
Olympic Games3R (2000)
Doubles
Career record269–255
Career titles9
Highest rankingNo. 24 (21 June 1999)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (1997)
French OpenQF (1994, 1998, 2004)
WimbledonQF (1998, 1999)
US Open3R (1994, 1999, 2005)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2004)

Silvia Farina-Elia (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsilvja faˈriːna eˈliːa]; born 27 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. She won three WTA singles titles, reached the quarterfinals of the 2003 Wimbledon Championships and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in May 2002. Farina-Elia won her first ITF title at Caltagirone in 1991 and her first WTA tournament at Strasbourg in 2001. She made her debut Grand Slam appearance at the 1991 French Open and was coached by husband Francesco Elia, whom she married September 1999.

Career

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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, Roland Garros) in 1994 and won her first doubles title the next year. In 1996, she represented Italy at the Atlanta Olympics. 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 title, at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. She ended the year No. 14, what was to be her best year end finish and played in the WTA Tour Championships 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, 7–5, 0–6, 1–6 in the quarterfinals.

Farina-Elia represented Italy 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."[1][2]

Personal life

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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".[3]

WTA career finals

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

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Legend
Grand Slam (0)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (3)
Tier IV-V (0)
Result W-L Date Tournament Date Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 1991 San Marino Open Clay Italy Katia Piccolini 2–6, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Jan 1998 Auckland Open, New Zealand Hard Belgium Dominique van Roost 6–4, 6–7(9–11), 5–7
Loss 0–3 Apr 1998 Budapest Grand Prix, Hungary Clay Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual 4–6, 6–6, 3–6
Loss 0–4 Jul 1998 Warsaw Open, Poland Clay Spain Conchita Martínez 0–6, 3–6
Loss 0–5 Nov 1998 Luxembourg Open Carpet (i) France Mary Pierce 0–6, 0–2 ret.
Loss 0–6 Feb 1999 Prostějov, Czech Republic Carpet (i) Slovakia Henrieta Nagyová 6–7(2–7), 4–6
Loss 0–7 Jan 2001 Gold Coast, Australia Hard Belgium Justine Henin 6–7(5–7), 4–6
Win 1–7 May 2001 Strasbourg, France Clay Germany Anke Huber 7–5, 0–6, 6–4
Win 2–7 May 2002 Strasbourg, France Clay Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Jelena Dokić 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Win 3–7 May 2003 Strasbourg, France Clay Croatia Karolina Šprem 6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Loss 3–8 Jan 2004 Canberra International, Australia Hard Argentina Paola Suárez 6–3, 4–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss 3–9 Feb 2004 Antwerp Open, Belgium Hard (i) Belgium Kim Clijsters 3–6, 0–6
Loss 3–10 Apr 2005 Amelia Island, United States Clay United States Lindsay Davenport 5–7, 5–7

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

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Result W-L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 May 1990 Taranto Trophy, Italy Clay Italy Rita Grande Soviet Union Elena Brioukhovets
Soviet Union Eugenia Maniokova
6–7, 1–6
Win 1–1 Jul 1998 Prague Open, Czech Republic Clay Czech Republic Karina Habšudová Czech Republic Květa Hrdličková
Czech Republic Michaela Paštiková
2–6, 6–1, 6–2
Win 2–1 Jun 1999 Rosmalen Open, Netherlands Grass Italy Rita Grande Zimbabwe Cara Black
Netherlands Kristie Boogert
7–5, 7–6
Win 3–1 Jul 1999 Pörtschach, Austria Clay Czech Republic Karina Habšudová Ukraine Olga Lugina
Argentina Laura Montalvo
6–4, 6–4
Loss 3–2 Feb 2000 Hanover Grand Prix, Germany Hard (i) Czech Republic Karina Habšudová Sweden Åsa Carlsson
Belarus Natalia Zvereva
3–6, 4–6
Win 4–2 Jul 2000 Palermo International, Italy Clay Italy Rita Grande Romania Ruxandra Dragomir
Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual
6–4, 0–6, 7–6(8–6)
Wins
Runner-ups

ITF finals

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Singles (2–1)

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Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. 29 October 1990 ITF Putignano, Italy Clay Italy Nathalie Baudone 2–6, 4–6
Win 2. 24 June 1991 ITF Caltagirone, Italy Clay Belgium Ann Devries 7–5, 6–3
Win 3. 5 April 1993 ITF Limoges, France Carpet (i) Belgium Laurence Courtois 6–3, 6–3

Doubles (6–2)

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Result No Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 11 June 1990 ITF Modena, Italy Hard Italy Simona Isidori Netherlands Heleen van den Berg
Netherlands Miriam Oremans
6–2, 6–3
Win 2. 23 July 1990 ITF Milan, Italy Hard Italy Simona Isidori France Nathalie Ballet
France Agnes Romand
2–6, 6–1, 6–3
Win 3. 29 October 1990 ITF Putignano, Italy Clay Italy Nathalie Baudone Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Darija Dešković
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Karin Lušnic
6–1, 6–1
Win 4. 24 June 1991 ITF Caltagiron, Italy Hard Japan Misumi Miyauchi France Alexandra Fusai
France Olivia Gravereaux
6–7, 6–4, 6–4
Win 5. 13 April 1992 ITF Salerno, Italy Hard Italy Linda Ferrando Australia Kirrily Sharpe
Australia Angie Woolcock
6–1, 6–4
Loss 6. 7 September 1992 ITF Arzachena, Italy Clay Italy Linda Ferrando Italy Laura Garrone
Italy Laura Golarsa
4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Win 7. 11 April 1993 ITF Limoges, France Carpet (i) Bulgaria Elena Pampoulova United States Stephanie Reece
United States Danielle Scott
6–2, 6–7(5), 6–2
Loss 8. 16 August 1993 ITF Arzachena, Italy Clay Italy Linda Ferrando Japan Akiko Kijimuta
Japan Naoko Kijimuta
0–6, 5–7

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

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

References

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  1. ^ "Farina-Elia announces retirement". Television New Zealand. Reuters. 27 October 2005. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  2. ^ "Injuries force Italy's Farina to retire". Times of Malta. 28 October 2005.
  3. ^ Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
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