Silvia Farina Elia

Silvia Farina-Elia
Country (sports)	Italy
Residence	Rome
Born	27 April 1972 (age 52); Milan
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	24 October 2005
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$3,688,252
Singles
Career record	469–370
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 11 (20 May 2002)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (2004, 2005)
French Open	4R (2001, 2002)
Wimbledon	QF (2003)
US Open	4R (2002)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	1R (2001, 2002)
Olympic Games	3R (2000)
Doubles
Career record	269–255
Career titles	9
Highest ranking	No. 24 (21 June 1999)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1997)
French Open	QF (1994, 1998, 2004)
Wimbledon	QF (1998, 1999)
US Open	3R (1994, 1999, 2005)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (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

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

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

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

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (3)
Tier IV-V (0)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Date	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	21 July 1991	San Marino Open	Clay	Katia Piccolini	6–2, 6–3
Loss	2.	11 January 1998	Auckland Open, New Zealand	Hard	Dominique van Roost	4–6, 7–6^(9–11), 7–5
Loss	3.	26 April 1998	Budapest Grand Prix, Hungary	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Loss	4.	19 July 1998	Warsaw Open, Poland	Clay	Conchita Martínez	6–0, 6–3
Loss	5.	1 November 1998	Luxembourg Open	Carpet (i)	Mary Pierce	6–0, 2–0 ret.
Loss	6.	14 February 1999	Prostějov, Czech Republic	Carpet (i)	Henrieta Nagyová	7–6^(7–2), 6–4
Loss	7.	7 January 2001	Gold Coast, Australia	Hard	Justine Henin	7–6^(7–5), 6–4
Win	1.	26 May 2001	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Anke Huber	7–5, 0–6, 6–4
Win	2.	25 May 2002	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Jelena Dokić	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Win	3.	24 May 2003	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Karolina Šprem	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Loss	8.	17 January 2004	Canberra International, Australia	Hard	Paola Suárez	3–6, 6–4, 7–6^(7–5)
Loss	9.	22 February 2004	Antwerp Open, Belgium	Hard (i)	Kim Clijsters	6–3, 6–0
Loss	10.	10 April 2005	Amelia Island, United States	Clay	Lindsay Davenport	7–5, 7–5

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

Wins

2004: Warsaw (w/ Francesca Schiavone)
2001: Strasbourg (w/ Iroda Tulyaganova)
2000: Palermo (w/ Rita Grande)
1999: Auckland (w/ Barbara Schett)
1999: 's Hertogenbosch (w/ Rita Grande)
1999: Pörtschach (w/ Karina Habšudová)
1998: Prague (w/ Karina Habšudová)
1997: Palermo (w/ Barbara Schett)
1995: Maria Lankowitz (with Andrea Temesvári)

Runner-ups

2005: Gold Coast (w/ Maria Elena Camerin)
2004: Paris (w/ Francesca Schiavone)
2003: Linz (w/ Marion Bartoli)
2000: Hannover (w/ Karina Habšudová)
1997: Gold Coast (w/ Ruxandra Dragomir)
1996: Moscow (w/ Barbara Schett)
1993: Palermo (w/ Brenda Schultz)
1990: Taranto (w/ Rita Grande)

ITF finals

Singles (2–1)

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	Nathalie Baudone	2–6, 4–6
Win	2.	24 June 1991	ITF Caltagirone, Italy	Clay	Ann Devries	7–5, 6–3
Win	3.	5 April 1993	ITF Limoges, France	Carpet (i)	Laurence Courtois	6–3, 6–3

Doubles (6–2)

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