Virginie Razzano

wow i'm deeply saddened to hear this - my heart goes out to her and her family. What a fighting spirit

Razzano to play at French in honor of fiance

PARIS (AP)—Virginie Razzano will play at the French Open despite the death of her fiance.

Stephane Vidal, who also served as Razzano’s coach until March, was diagnosed with a brain tumor nine years ago and died Monday at 32. But despite his illness, he encouraged the 28-year-old Razzano to compete at Roland Garros.

“Four or five days ago, I asked him: ‘Do you want me to go and play at Roland Garros?”’ the Frenchwoman told Tuesday’s edition of L’Equipe newspaper. “He answered: ‘Yes, you need to play.’ Because his intention is that I keep on going in my life, that I play for him and that I continue to be strong and to fight.”

The French Open begins Sunday.

Razzano reached a career-high No. 16 in the women’s tennis rankings in 2009, the same year she reached the fourth round at both the French Open and Wimbledon. Her only two WTA Tour titles came in 2007, including a win over Venus Williams in the final of the Japan Open.

Razzano, now ranked 93rd, met Vidal 11 years ago when she was training at his parents’ tennis club. The two quickly got along well and started to date each other.

“He was like a big brother,” Razzano said. “We shared very strong moments and, little by little, we fell in love.”

Two years later, Vidal was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent an operation that briefly left him paralyzed on one side.

“It was very hard for him, because he had to learn again how to walk and how to write to become again the man he once was, until things got worse again,” Razzano said.

In March, he became too weak to continue as Razzano’s coach and did not travel with her to the United States. He stayed in the south of France with her father while Razzano was accompanied by Vidal’s mother.

“They didn’t tell me the truth about his condition because Stephane wanted to hide it from me,” Razzano said. “He wanted me to play well in Miami. He already knew his tumor had become too big and knew he was about to die. For him, knowing that I was playing was extra energy.”

Vidal almost died during the Indian Wells tournament and had to be resuscitated but his family didn’t inform Razzano until she returned to France.

“I didn’t know this. It came as a huge shock,” Razzano said. “The most beautiful thing we achieved in our lives was not a match. We were a couple, but we became one person.”

Without elaborating, Razzano added she had a “very difficult adolescence” before she met Vidal.

“It’s hard, but thanks to the strength he gave me I’m still alive,” Razzano said.

- Yahoo Sports

That's tough for her - she's got guts.

Viginie Razzano plays Roland Garros despite death of 32-yr-old fiance Stephane Vidal after brain tumour: "He told me 'yes you have to play'".

Razzano makes her return to the tour after a few months off next week in Prague, reportedly over the ankle injury that she said was caused by one of the tour's leading trainers.

She is still seeking compensation according to French media.

Following up previous post, confirmation that Razzano has officially withdrawn from Wimbledon but not without huge controversy.

The French veteran is citing a left foot injury, as well as a right thigh tear that was the result of the problem to the foot, and Virginie insists that the initial onset of the injury was caused by a massage given to her by one of the tour's leading trainers.

She said the massage was painful, and led to an edema - which is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body - making things progressively worse.

Razzano is in consultation with legal authorities to start proceedings against the WTA, and is seeking damages. This would all certainly put her long-term future under a fairly big cloud.

French media and forum reports suggest that Virginie Razzano has/will pull out of Wimbledon, though there seems no information available to prove this.

Excerpt from VirginieRazzano.net explaining her recent loss to Peer was due to injury;

"I was not able to defend my chances against Shahar Peer in the 2nd round. I had a bad back to the warm pre-match, I felt stuck. I needed an osteopath but the physios WTA are not trained for this kind of problem. On my return to France, I set my back problem that is recurring in my house. I have done a good week of workouts at home. I am from March 3 to the long U.S. tour that I like. My program is Indian Wells, Miami, Ponte Vedra Beach and Charleston."

Virginie Razzano was a withdrawal from Beijing as she has failed to overcome a calf strain to her left leg sustained in her previous match with Benesova.