RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Former World No.4 Francesca Schiavone showed flashes of the tennis that took her to a maiden Grand Slam title at the 2010 French Open, edging past American Shelby Rogers, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, to win her seventh career title at the Rio Open.

“I feel very emotional right now,” she said during the trophy ceremony. “It was a very tough match, and I want to congratulate Rogers. She is a young player and she grew a lot in the circuit.”

Schiavone looked down and out when she fell behind against a set and a break to Rogers, who was in just her second WTA main draw since last fall’s Coupe Banque Nationale, but the wily veteran cruised through the second set and raced out to an idential 5-2 lead in the final set before treating the Rio crowd to a tense ending.

“I want to thank everybody who made this fantastic tournament possible,” Rogers said in her runner-up speech. “It was definitely one of the best weeks of my life. I hope I can come back next year.”

Though she lost her first eight career WTA finals, the Italian has been 7-3 since breaking the duck back in 2007 (Bad Gastein), and her win in Rio is her first in just under two years (Marrakech); she will return to the Top 100 on Monday’s rankings.

“I’m really happy to be here today. I wrote this speech this morning,” Schiavone said, addressing the crowd in Portuguese, “regardless of the result, because I wanted to share my joy with you.

“Today is a happy day and I’m very emotional because Brazil is such a wonderful country. Your smile fulfilled my days here and I wish you the best for the Olympic Games.

“I want to thank everybody who helped me, and now it´s time to enjoy.”