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Published November 20, 2014
By Simon Cambers
NEW YORK (Reuters) - French Open champion Francesca Schiavone showed her flair for language matched her flair on court when she described her playing style as being like a capricciosa pizza after reaching the last eight at the U.S. Open.
The 30-year-old Italian demolished 20th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 6-0 on Sunday to reach the quarter-finals, her greater variety too much for the young Russian.
"I can do serve-and-volley, I can play faster, I can play slow and back, it's a mix," Schiavone said.
"It's like capricciosa pizza. I don't give you margherita, I give you capricciosa, different kind of ingredients."
At times Pavlyuchenkova looked bamboozled by the Italian's playing style, from her single-handed topspin backhand to her delicate drop shots and her penchant for serve-and-volley tennis.
Sixth seed Schiavone eased through the first set and was leading 3-0 in the second when Pavlyuchenkova had treatment on her right elbow.
The break did not unsettle Schiavone, though, and she rattled off the last three games to seal a meeting with third seed Venus Williams.
Though she grew up playing on clay, the slowest surface, Schiavone said she was confident in her ability on the faster hard courts.
"For sure on the clay I have more time, so I can take you and go 10 shots, 20 shots, 30 shots," she said.
"But I think I have physically the possibility (to play on hard courts) because I am fast. To keep going, to mix this kind of shot, that is my quality.
"It's not easy to play on hard court, so I think I put some problems to the players to play so different."
"When you win one, you can say, I want another one," she said.
"You are hungry, of course, but you have to have respect, because to win a grand slam is something so big, so long, so tough that it's absolutely so far away from the moment."
(Editing by Clare Fallon)
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/variety-is-the-spice-of-life-for-schiavone