1) The Fab Four of Italian women’s tennis often dined together: Roberta Vinci, Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone, Sara Errani. I imagine wine flows as elegantly as their groundstokes. I imagine their laughter and smiles, their grunts and groans, from a shared life together in the public eye. From 2011–2015, they created more history among them than any other four female contemporaries in Italy’s history. In 2010, Francesca Schiavone won the 2010 French Open with her buggy-whip forehand and endlessly creative game, becoming the first Italian women to win a grand slam title. In 2012, Sara Errani was a French Open finalist in singles, reaching a career high of #5 that year. From 2012–14, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci became one of the five teams in history to win a career ground slam in doubles together. In 2015, Roberta Vinci and Flavia Pennetta met in the first all-Italian grand slam final at the US Open, which Pennetta won over her childhood friend.
2) Doping in Tortellini. Errani’s mother a pharmacist who is trying to hide or downplay her cancer diagnosis. She’s taking a drug called Femara. Somehow it gets into the Tortellini. Sara ingests some of it, later fails a drug test for “Letrozole,” an ingredient in Femara. For almost ten months, she is banned from playing tennis. The headlines are horrible. (In Plato’s Republic, he poses the difficult ethical question: would you rather be innocent and have everyone think you’re guilty, or would you rather be guilty and have everyone think you’re innocent?) When Errani returns to tour in 2017, her service motion has fallen apart. Already short and with a shoulder problem, she can no longer toss a ball in the air with any consistency. Errani once said her best attribute was “acceptance of suffering.” Nothing to do but practice suffering again and again.
Artist Bio (from website): Achille Chiarello was born in Arzignano (Vicenza)(Italy) on 26/10/65. He started artistic activity as a goldsmith after attending the art school in Vicenza. After 13 years of creating designs of jewelry for other companies, he left the goldsmith’s business and began to paint on canvas. Later he resumed some of his goldsmith’s techniques, experimenting with wood and new synthetic materials: resins and plastics. Today he paints with different techniques and sculpts on polyurethane, fiberglass, resin, bronze, and alternative materials. To see more of his fascinating artwork, you can visit his website.
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