Silvia Farina-Elia

Silvia Farina Elia was a tennis player with excellent technical skills that made her one of the top Italian women’s players in the 1990s to the mid-2000s. Turning professional in 1989, she became the first Italian female to climb as high as number 11 in the world rankings in 2002. She competed in 13 WLTA finals, winning three (all at Strasbourg) between 2001-03. She also enjoyed nine doubles victories. Her best Grand Slam performance was in reaching the ladies singles’ quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2003.

In 2001 and 2002, Farina Elia became the first Italian player to twice reach the end-of-season Masters. She also competed at three Olympics, and from 1993 represented Italy 34 times in the Fed Cup, winning 21 singles and two doubles. She led the Azzurro to the world group for the first time, and in 1999 and 2002, all the way to the semi-finals. At the age of 33 in 2005, Farina Elia quit the sport and enjoyed a new career as a TV commentator for the sports channel SuperTennis.