This season saw a few Italian veterans getting ready to hang up the tennis racquet: Flavia Pennetta sensationally announced her retirement moments after winning the US Open and veteran Roberta Vinci stated that 2016 would likely be her last season. With so many longtime WTA stalwarts setting up to say goodbye, all eyes turned to Francesca Schiavone.

The former French Open winner has fallen outside of the Top 100 and this year her season is highlighted by quarterfinals appearances at Antwerp and Istanbul and a semifinal run at Limoges.

Would Schiavone also follow in her countrywomen’s footsteps and call it a day? The answer is: not likely.

“This decision, it’s something that you feel inside,” Schiavone said of retirement. “That feeling, it has not arrived yet for me. I want to keep going, as long as I feel good and comfortable, as much as I enjoy it.”

Schiavone draws motivation from many sources, and she looks for motivation to keep going from the same players she competes with week in and week out. At 35, Schiavone is among the oldest players in the Top 200, surpassed only Kimiko Date-Krumm and Venus Williams, who is six days older than Schiavone.

“It’s so nice to see Venus (who is 35), who has my same age, or [Roger] Federer or Serena [Williams] who are one year younger than me still enjoy it and still keep going to win,” she said. “This is my inspiration.”

Immediately in Schiavone’s sights is the chance to make history – if she enters the main draw of the upcoming Australian Open, she will tie the record for most consecutive appearances in a Grand Slam by a female tennis player. Japan’s Ai Sugiyama currently owns that record with 62 appearances, starting from the 1994 Wimbledon to the 2009 US Open.

“Yeah, it’s a big one,” Schiavone said. “I don’t know if I will do it, but I’m working hard to reach this goal.

“I’m thinking a lot about my next season. About my ranking, where I have to play, how I have to play. But that is my goal: to find a way to arrive to play Australian Open.”

With her eyes on the record books, Schiavone shows no signs of slowing down. And there’s no reason to, if her marathon match against Svetlana Kuznetsova at this year’s French Open is any indication of what she can still achieve. But beyond the records and the titles, there’s an ultimate goal that keeps Schiavone pushing forward:

“It can be fantastic and very emotional for me, to look over my shoulder and to say ‘Wow, I did such long career, a beautiful career.’

“This is the most important thing for me.”