FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE appreciates last year’s French Open triumph even more after experiencing the other side of the coin on Saturday.

The Italian was bidding to successfully defend her title but, after 13 wins in a row at Roland Garros, she was beaten 6-4 7-6 (7/0) by Li Na in the final on Court Philippe Chatrier. For the Chinese woman there was the elation of winning a first grand slam title at the age of 29, exactly the position Schiavone had been in 12 months earlier.

She said: “The impact of winning, there’s a big difference when you lose. But I’m happy to be here because now I can feel much more what I did last year. To be close to winning is very different to actually winning. But, at the same time, getting to the final again meant that I had the chance to take the trophy. There are a lot of emotions.”

More than 100million people were estimated to have watched Li’s triumph yesterday as she became the first Asian player to win a grand slam singles title.

The sixth seed was herself surprised that her breakthrough came at the French Open given she had never won a clay-court tournament before, and Schiavone hopes it will inspire more Chinese players to give the surface a go. She said: “I can imagine many Chinese people were watching. I think it’s important also for them to know about clay over there.

“I think they play mostly just on hard courts. This can be a good start for them.”

Li has been at the forefront of China’s modest success in women’s tennis in recent years, reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2006 and then the semi-finals at the Australian Open last year. But this season she has positioned herself as a major force.