Sara Errani
Sara Errani is a professional tennis player from Italy. She is a former top 5 player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. She has won nine WTA singles titles, and 27 doubles titles – which includes five Grand Slam doubles championships and five Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 doubles titles, thereby completing the career Grand Slam in doubles.
Errani's breakthrough season occurred in 2012. At the Australian Open, she reached the quarterfinals in singles and was a finalist in doubles. Known as a clay-court specialist, Errani won three titles on clay going into the 2012 French Open, where she reached the finals in both the singles and doubles tournaments, winning the doubles title with her partner Roberta Vinci. They also won the doubles titles at the 2012 US Open, and the 2013 and 2014 Australian Open. By winning the 2014 Wimbledon Women's Doubles title together, Errani and Vinci became only the fifth pair in tennis history to complete a Career Grand Slam.
Her achievement in reaching the 2012 US Open singles semifinals leaves Wimbledon as the only Grand Slam tournament in which Errani has yet to make the quarterfinals in singles. She also made the semifinals at the 2013 French Open and the quarterfinals at the 2014 French Open, the 2014 US Open, and the 2015 French Open. In 2017, Errani was banned from playing for ten months due to a failed drug test.
Career
Early life and junior career
Errani was born in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy to Giorgio, a fruit and vegetable seller and Fulvia, a pharmacist. At the age of 12, her father sent her to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. At 16, she moved to Valencia, Spain, to be coached by Pablo Lozano and David Andres.Errani competed in her first event at the $10,000 Cagliari event in her native Italy in 2002, where she lost to Sun Tiantian. She continued to compete in the ITF, where her best performance of the year was a semifinal appearance in Zaton. She continued to participate mainly on the ITF circuit, where she won her first tournament over Lucia Jiminez in Melilla, Spain in 2005.
2008–2011
The first WTA title of her career was in the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, where she defeated Mariya Koryttseva. On July 27, 2008, she captured her second career title in two weeks, defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues. She has also won six doubles WTA titles.In 2009, Errani was the runner-up at two WTA tournaments, in Palermo and Portorož, as the defending champion in both. Errani was defeated in the first round of the French Open by defending champion Ana Ivanovic, whom she would beat in the third round three years later.
Errani reached the third round in every Grand Slam except the French Open in 2010, where she lost in the first round. At the US Open, she upset Alisa Kleybanova in the second round, before losing to eventual quarterfinalist Samantha Stosur in the third round.
Errani was a member of Fed Cup-winning Italian team in 2009 and 2010. In February 2011, she reached the final of the PTT Pattaya Open, where she was defeated by Daniela Hantuchová.
2012: Breakthrough
At the beginning of 2012, Errani decided to change her racquet, switching from Wilson to Babolat, opting for a heavier and slightly longer model than the last, allowing for more power and better reach. This change caused her to return her $30,000 endorsement fee to Wilson. However, she and several commentators cite the new racquet as a reason for her improved game and her entry into the top 10 of the WTA rankings. In the first five months of 2012, she won three singles titles, earning over $1.3 million in prize money. Errani herself dubbed her new racquet "Excalibur", named after the sword of King Arthur.At the Australian Open Errani advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, defeating Valeria Savinykh, Nadia Petrova, Sorana Cîrstea, and Zheng Jie en route, before losing to Petra Kvitová. Her ranking jumped to world No. 33. At the Abierto Monterrey Open, she was the second seed and reached the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Tímea Babos, but she triumphed on the clay in Acapulco as the third seed, winning her third career title. She defeated fellow Italians Roberta Vinci, and second seed Flavia Pennetta in her last two matches. Errani fell in the opening round of Indian Wells to Vania King, and in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open against Sloane Stephens.
As the seventh seed at the Barcelona Ladies Open, Errani stormed to her fourth career title and second of the year, not dropping a set, beating second seeded Julia Görges in the quarterfinals, Carla Suárez Navarro in the semifinals, and Dominika Cibulková in the final. Afterwards, her ranking rose to world No. 28. In the Fed Cup semifinals against the Czech Republic, Errani lost to Petra Kvitová, but beat Andrea Hlaváčková, with Italy losing the tie. On May 7, Errani won the Budapest Grand Prix, tying country woman Roberta Vinci for the most titles won by an Italian female in a year at three.
Her performance continued to improve when she reached the finals of the French Open. En route she defeated Casey Dellacqua, Melanie Oudin, and 2008 and 2009 French Open winners Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova, respectively. She secured a place in the semifinals by eliminating the German tenth seed Angelique Kerber, her first win over a current top-10 player. In the semifinals, she overcame the reigning US Open champion and 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur to reach her first Grand Slam singles final opposite Maria Sharapova. Errani lost in the final. However, her progress in this tournament helped her achieve the No. 10 ranking.
In addition to her singles wins, Errani also won six doubles titles with Roberta Vinci including the Madrid Open, the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, and the French Open. She and Vinci also made the finals of the Sony Ericsson Open and the Australian Open.
At Wimbledon, Errani lost in the third round to Yaroslava Shvedova, suffering the humiliating loss of the first, and to date only, Golden Set in a major in the women's tennis open era, and second ever recorded. In July, at the Italiacom Open, Errani, without losing a set, won her fourth title of the year, the sixth in her career. She defeated the Czech Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the final. Errani then lost in the first round of the singles competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, as well as the first round of the mixed doubles. However, she and Vinci reached the quarterfinals of the women's doubles.
She then played the Rogers Cup, where she lost in the third round to eventual finalist Li Na. She then lost to Venus Williams in the third round of the Western & Southern Open. She then played the New Haven Open as the fourth seed. She reached the semifinals by beating fifth seed Marion Bartoli. She lost in the semifinals to Petra Kvitová. At the US Open, Errani had a slow start by beating Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets. However, she easily defeated the Russians Vera Dushevina and Olga Puchkova. She lost only three games in these two rounds. In the fourth round, she defeated sixth seed, Angelique Kerber. In the quarterfinals, she defeated her doubles partner Vinci to come into the semifinals, where she lost in straight sets to eventual champion Serena Williams. With this result, she is the first Italian woman in the Open Era to reach the semifinals of the US Open, and the first Italian woman ever to come at least into semifinals of two different majors.
Errani partnered again with Vinci for the US Open. They were seeded second, behind the defending champions Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond. Errani and Vinci won the US Open women's doubles final. As of result, she reached the No. 1 spot on 10 September 2012.
At the end of the year she took part in the WTA Tour Championships for the first time in her career. Here, she was defeated in straight sets by Maria Sharapova, but she beat Samantha Stosur in the following match; she lost to fourth seed Agnieszka Radwańska in a match lasting three hours and 29 minutes. With that loss, Errani did not advance beyond the round-robin stage. She finished her breakthrough year as No. 6 in the world.
2013: Continued success
Errani started the year in the Premier event in Brisbane. In the first round, she defeated a qualifier, Olga Puchkova of Russia. She then lost to Daniela Hantuchová. Errani had better results at Sydney, where she beat Maria Kirilenko, the 14th seed, in two sets en route to the quarterfinals. However, she lost to eventual finalist, Dominika Cibulková, the 15th seed, easily. She was the seventh seed at the Australian Open, where she had reached the quarterfinals in 2012. However, she was defeated by Carla Suárez Navarro in the first round. In the doubles tournament, Errani, partnering with Vinci, won her third Grand Slam title, beating Australian wildcards Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua in the final.She reached the final of the Open GDF Suez in Paris, losing to Mona Barthel.
At the Qatar Ladies Open, she reached the quarterfinals, but she lost to Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. However, she won her third doubles title of the year, with Vinci, beating Petrova and Srebotnik in the final. One week later, she came into the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championship, beating Nadia Petrova in three sets. Here, she defeated her doubles partner Roberta Vinci, reaching her second singles final of the year where she lost to Petra Kvitová in three sets. At the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Errani reached her third final of the year facing Carla Suárez Navarro. She won the final in two sets, her seventh singles title.
Her next tournament was Indian Wells, where she was seeded sixth and reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to the eventual champion Maria Sharapova in straight sets. The following week, she played in Miami, where she was the eighth seed; she received a bye into the second round, and then she defeated Daniela Hantuchová and Simona Halep easily. In the fourth round, she faced Ana Ivanovic and beat her, reaching her second Premier Mandatory's quarterfinal in a row against Maria Sharapova, but for the fourth time in a row, she lost to the Russian in straight sets.
In the first week of May, her next tournament was the Mutua Madrid Open, where, defeating Urszula Radwańska, Sorana Cîrstea, Varvara Lepchenko, and Ekaterina Makarova, she reached the semifinal, her first in a WTA Premier Mandatory, where she was beaten by Serena Williams in straight sets. She reached the semifinal at Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she was defeated by Victoria Azarenka.
As fifth seed, she played at French Open and, trying to defend the final of the last year. She defeated Arantxa Rus, Yulia Putintseva, and Sabine Lisicki to reach the fourth round, where she struggled to upset Carla Suárez Navarro. In the quarterfinal, Errani beat the fourth seed Agnieszka Radwańska, her first win over a current top-5 player. However, in the semifinal, she lost to a perfect Serena Williams in straight sets. In doubles, with Roberta Vinci, she reached her fifth Grand Slam final, but they lost to the Russian team of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
She was defeated by Monica Puig in straight sets in the first round of Wimbledon 2013, despite being seeded fifth. She reached the final in Palermo, where she was defeated by Roberta Vinci. Then she played in Rogers Cup as fifth seed, and for the first time, she reached the quarterfinals, where she was defeated by third seed Agnieszka Radwańska. In Cincinnati she lost in the third round to Roberta Vinci again, while at the US Open she suffered a tough lost in the second round to Flavia Pennetta, eventual semifinalist; in the doubles, as defending champion, she lost in the quarterfinals to Williams sisters.
In Tokyo, at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, Errani was eliminated in straight sets by Svetlana Kuznetsova, while at the China Open she defeated Kirsten Flipkens and Misaki Doi, before losing to Petra Kvitová in three sets. She was the sixth player qualified for the Tour Championships for the second consecutive time. There, she was defeated by Victoria Azarenka in straight sets, after leading 5-2 and 6-5 in the first set and after having a calf injury. Then she was defeated by Li Na in two sets, after saving three match points, one of those when she was 3-5 down. Out of the semifinals, she defeated for the first time the former world No. 1 Jelena Janković in straight sets.
2014: Falling out of top 10, career Grand Slam in doubles
Errani began her season at the Shenzhen Open, where she fell in the second round to American Vania King. She then travelled to Australia to compete in the Sydney International, where she reached the quarterfinals in singles, and was a finalist in doubles with Roberta Vinci, losing to Tímea Babos and Lucie Šafářová. At the Australian Open, she lost her opening match against Julia Görges. However, the doubles was completely different, as she and Vinci successfully defended their title, defeating first-time Australian Open finalists Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in three sets to claim their fourth Grand Slam title.The following week she managed to defend the final at the Open GDF Suez in Paris by beating Alizé Cornet, but she lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets after winning the first and having a break either in the second or in the third ones. At the Qatar Ladies Open she reached the quarterfinals, losing easily to the eventual champion Simona Halep; one week later in Dubai Tennis Championship, she lost in the second round to Sorana Cîrstea for the first time in her career, after always defeating her in the previous five meetings.
In March, her next tournaments were Indian Wells and Miami, in which she lost in the third round respectively to Eugenie Bouchard and Ekaterina Makarova; because of the loss to the Russian in Miami, she left the top 10 rankings after 94 weeks from June 2012, letting the Slovakian Dominika Cibulková enter in the top 10 for the first season in her career.
In April, she played in Charleston and she reached the quarterfinals, where she was upset by the young Swiss player Belinda Bencic, wasting an opportunity to enter in the top 10 rankings again; then, she played a good tournament at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, by beating in a row Klára Koukalová, Kaia Kanepi and Carla Suárez Navarro and by advancing to the semifinals for the first time here, where she lost to the eventual champion Maria Sharapova in straight sets. In the doubles, she won the title, partnering with compatriot and friend Roberta Vinci, after beating Cara Black and Sania Mirza; her next tournament was Mutua Madrid Open, where she beat former top 10 players such like Andrea Petkovic and compatriot Francesca Schiavone, both in straight sets, but she was upset by the French Caroline Garcia in the third round. She won her third doubles title of this season in Madrid, defeating the Spanish pair Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro; one week later, she played amazingly at Internazionali BNL d'Italia, defeating Chanelle Scheepers, Ekaterina Makarova, Petra Cetkovská, upsetting world No. 2 Li Na in three sets for the first time in her career, after losing the previous six meeting against the Chinese player and beating so a top 3 player for the first time in her career; she reached the final, after beating in straight sets world No. 8 and former world No. 1 Jelena Janković, but she was defeated by Serena Williams, also penalized by a thigh injury, which forced her to retire in the doubles final after losing four games against Srebotnik and Psechke.
As the tenth seed, she played at French Open; she beat Madison Keys in three sets, Dinah Pfizenmaier and Julia Glushko in straight sets; then, in the fourth round she ousted seventh seed Jelena Janković, reaching here her third straight quarterfinal, where she fell quite surprisingly to Andrea Petkovic, who beat her in straight sets. In the doubles, she played alongside Roberta Vinci; they reached their third consecutive final, falling to Asian pair Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai in straight sets.
After losing to Caroline Garcia of France in the first round of Wimbledon in the singles, Errani had a career best performance in the women's doubles, as her and Vinci won the tournament to complete a career Grand Slam. They beat Hungary's Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic of France 6–1, 6–3 in 56 minutes. Upon reaching the final, Errani and Vinci reclaimed the number-one ranking in women's doubles, after having relinquished the ranking in February to Peng Shuai.
Errani competed at the Gastein Ladies where she is the second seed and she reached the semifinal, defeated surprisingly by the American Shelby Rogers; she suffered early losses in Montreal and at the Western & Southern Open in the hands of German Sabine Lisicki and at the Connecticut Open in the hands of Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets; Errani's next tournament was the US Open, where she was the fourteenth seed; she faced Kirsten Flipkens and Anastasia Rodionova and defeated them in straight sets; while in the third round she beat for the first time the former world No. 1 Venus Williams with the weird result of 6–0, 0–6, 7–6; then, in the fourth round, she defeated Mirjana Lučić-Baroni in three sets, reaching her sixth Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance, in which she lost to Caroline Wozniacki pretty easily.
Errani lost to qualifier Marina Erakovic in the first round at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
2015: Staying in the top 20
Errani began the 2015 season at the ASB Classic where she was the second seed. She lost in the first round to Daniela Hantuchová 6–3, 6–2. Next, Errani played at the Apia International Sydney. In the first round, she lost to Garbiñe Muguruza 6–0, 7–5. As the 14th seed at the Australian Open, Errani won her first two matches, defeating Grace Min and Sílvia Soler Espinosa. She lost in the third round to Yanina Wickmayer 4–6, 6–4, 6–3.In the Fed Cup match against France, Errani won her match against Caroline Garcia 7–6, 7–5. In her second match, she lost to Kristina Mladenovic 6–4, 6–3. Errani and Roberta Vinci lost the deciding doubles rubber to Mladenovic and Garcia 6–1, 6–2. France advanced to the semifinals by beating Italy 3-2. As the top seed at the Rio Open, Errani advanced to the final by defeating Teliana Pereira, Lourdes Domínguez Lino, Brazilian wildcard Beatriz Haddad Maia, and fifth seed Johanna Larsson. In the final, she beat sixth seed Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 7–6, 6–1. This was Errani's first WTA singles title in two years. The following week, Errani competed at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Seeded second, she lost in the second round to Monica Puig 6–1, 6–1. Seeded second at the Monterrey Open, Errani reached the semifinals by beating Lauren Davis, qualifier Tímea Babos, and fifth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In the semifinals, she was defeated by fourth seed and eventual champion Timea Bacsinszky 6–0, 4–6, 7–6. Seeded 11th at the BNP Paribas Open, Errani received a bye into the second round. She lost in the third round to 24th seed Sabine Lisicki 6–4, 6–2. Seeded 11th at the Miami Open, Errani again received a bye to the second round. She defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and 21st seed Garbiñe Muguruza to reach the fourth round where she was defeated by 27th seed Sabine Lisicki 6–1, 6–2. Meanwhile, she suspended the doubles partnership with Roberta Vinci, preferring to dedicate herself to her singles career.
Errani began her clay court season at the Family Circle Cup. Seeded fourth, she reached the quarterfinals by defeating 2014 finalist Jana Čepelová and qualifier Sara Sorribes Tormo. In the quarterfinals, she lost to qualifier Lucie Hradecká 6–2, 6–4. A week later, she participated in the Fed Cup World Group I playoff. She beat Lauren Davis in straight sets but lost to world No. 1 Serena Williams 6–4, 6–7, 3–6. Then she played in Stuttgart, where she reached the quarterfinals, losing to Simona Halep after having defeated world No. 9 Agnieszka Radwańska and Zarina Diyas.
In May, Errani had disappointing appearances in Madrid and in Rome, losing on both occasions in the second round to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Christina McHale, respectively. Two weeks later, she competed at the French Open, where she beat Alison Riske, Carina Witthöft, and world No. 10 Andrea Petkovic, avenging the previous year's loss. She then reached the quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive time in this tournament by defeating Julia Görges in straight sets. She ended up losing to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals in straight sets.
2016: Biggest WTA title and downfall
Errani started her year at the Brisbane International. She lost in the first round to seventh seed Belinda Bencic 6–1, 6–2. She then competed at the Apia International Sydney, where she reached the quarterfinals with wins over Carla Suárez Navarro and Jelena Janković. She lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7–6, 6–0. Seeded 17th at the Australian Open, Errani lost in the first round to Margarita Gasparyan 1–6, 7–5, 6–1.Playing in the Fed Cup tie against France, Errani lost both of her matches to Caroline Garcia 6–3, 7–5 and Kristina Mladenovic 7–6, 6–1. France ended up advancing to the semifinals defeating Italy 4-1. At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Errani reached the final defeating qualifier Zheng Saisai, qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova, Madison Brengle and Elina Svitolina. In the final, she beat Barbora Strýcová 6–0, 6–2 to earn the biggest singles title of her career. Seeded 16th at the Qatar Total Open, Errani lost in the second round to Tímea Babos 6–4, 6–1. Errani was seeded number one at the Monterrey Open. She defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková in the 1st round 6–1, 3–6, 6–4. In the second round, she was defeated by Anett Kontaveit 6–1, 6–3. Seeded 15th at the BNP Paribas Open, Errani received a bye into the second round. She lost in the second round to world No. 36 Lesia Tsurenko 6–4, 6–3. Seeded 14th at the Miami Open, Errani again received a bye into the second round where she was defeated by wildcard Naomi Osaka 6–1, 6–3.
Errani started her clay-court season at the Volvo Open where she was the fifth seed. After getting a bye into the second round, she had straight set wins over Yaroslava Shvedova, 10th seed Samantha Stosur, and Yulia Putintseva. However, she lost to qualifier Elena Vesnina in the semifinals 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. Seeded 15th at the Madrid Open, Errani lost in the first round to compatriot Camila Giorgi 7–5, 7–5. Seeded 14th at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Errani was defeated in the first round by qualifier Heather Watson 6–4, 3–6, 6–0. The top seed at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, Errani lost in the first round to Monica Puig 4–6, 6–3, 6–1. As the 16th seed at the French Open Errani was upset in the first round by world No. 102 Tsvetana Pironkova 6–3, 6–2.
Errani began her grass court season by playing at the Aegon International Eastbourne where she was the 13th seed. After receiving a bye in the first round, she lost in the second round to Andrea Petkovic 6–1, 3–6, 6–4. She had her best result in Grand Slam tournaments this year at the Wimbledon Championships. After beating Patricia Maria Țig in the first round, she lost in the second round to Alizé Cornet 7–6, 7–5.
Seeded second at the Bucharest Open, Errani reached the quarterfinals after defeating Aleksandra Krunić and wildcard Francesca Schiavone. She lost in the quarterfinals to seventh seed and eventual finalist Anastasija Sevastova 7–6, 6–3. Seeded second at the Swedish Open, she made it to the quarterfinals beating Çağla Büyükakçay and Viktorija Golubic. In the quarterfinals, Errani was defeated by qualifier and eventual finalist Kateřina Siniaková 7–6, 6–3. Ranked 25 at the Rogers Cup, Errani won her first round match over Canadian wildcard Aleksandra Wozniak 6–4, 7–6. She was forced to pull out of her second round match against 14th seed Karolína Plíšková because of a neck injury.
Errani represented her country, Italy, at the Rio Olympics. She beat Kiki Bertens and Barbora Strýcová, but fell to Daria Kasatkina in the 3rd round 7–5, 6–2. She also teamed up with fellow country woman in the doubles competition. They made it to the quarterfinals, but lost to eventual bronze medalists Lucie Šafářová and Barbora Strýcová 4–6, 6–4, 6–4.
Ranked 32 at the Western & Southern Open, Errani lost in the first round to world No. 33 CoCo Vandeweghe 4–6, 6–3, 6–4. At the Connecticut Open, Errani was defeated in the first round by Ekaterina Makarova 7–5, 6–2. As the 27th seed at the US Open, Errani lost in the first round to American Shelby Rogers 6–4, 7–6.
Following her loss at the US Open, was seeded first at the Guangzhou International Open. After beating Han Xinyun in the first round, she lost in the second round to Viktorija Golubic 6–7, 6–3, 6–4. At her last tournament of the year, she lost her first-round match at the Wuhan Open, losing to Barbora Strýcová 6–1, 3–6, 6–1.
Errani ended the year ranked 50.
2017: Drugs test failure and suspension
Errani started her year at the Brisbane International. She was defeated in the first round by Christina McHale. She was scheduled to compete at the Hobart International, but pulled out because of a left thigh injury. Her next tournament was the Australian Open. For the first time since 2012, Errani was unseeded at a Grand Slam. She won her first-round match against Risa Ozaki. In the second round, Errani was up against 30th seed Ekaterina Makarova. Makarova won the first set 6–2; she was leading 3-2 in the second set when Errani retired due to a right lower leg injury.Playing in the Fed Cup tie versus Slovakia, Errani lost both of her rubbers to Rebecca Šramková and Daniela Hantuchová. Slovakia ended up winning the Fed Cup tie versus Italy 3-2. In March, Errani competed at the BNP Paribas Open. She won her first-round match against qualifier Mandy Minella. In the second round, she lost to 17th seed Barbora Strýcová. In doubles, Errani partnered with Alicja Rosolska; they lost in the second round to fourth seeds Sania Mirza and Barbora Strýcová. At the Miami Open, Errani beat Belinda Bencic in the first round. In the second round, she was defeated by 30th seed Zhang Shuai.
Errani began her clay-court season at the Volvo Car Open. She defeated lucky loser Grace Min in the first round. In the second round, she lost to qualifier Anastasia Rodionova. At the Copa Colsanitas, Errani reached the quarterfinals defeating seventh seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and Sachia Vickery. She lost in the quarterfinals to third seed Johanna Larsson. Playing at the İstanbul Cup, Errani defeated Hsieh Su-wei in the first round. In the second round, she was defeated by sixth seed and eventual finalist Elise Mertens. Errani then had a great result at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem. She reached the semifinals, defeating wildcard Anna Blinkova, eighth seed Alison Riske, and third seed Daria Gavrilova. In the semifinals, she lost to top seed and eventual champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Nevertheless, this was Errani's best result of the year. Her ranking moved back into the top 100 at No. 90. At the Madrid Open, Errani lost in the first round of qualifying to eighth seed Pauline Parmentier. After Madrid, Errani received a wild card to play at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. She was defeated in the first round by Alizé Cornet. Due to having a low ranking, Errani played qualifying at the French Open. As the top seed, she qualified for the main draw, beating French wildcard Sara Cakarevic, Veronika Kudermetova, and 20th seed Nicole Gibbs. In the first round of the main draw, she beat world No. 58 Misaki Doi. In the second round, she lost to 13th seed Kristina Mladenovic.
After the French Open, Errani competed at the Bol Open, where she was the fifth seed. She reached the quarterfinals, beating Aleksandrina Naydenova and Olga Sáez Larra. In the quarterfinals, Errani lost to Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Errani began her grass-court season by playing qualifying at the Mallorca Open. Seeded second for qualifying, she lost in the final round of qualifying to eighth seed Jana Čepelová. However, she got a lucky loser spot into the main draw due to the withdrawal of Anett Kontaveit. In the first round, she was defeated by sixth seed, compatriot, and former doubles partner Roberta Vinci. Seeded seventh for qualifying at the Aegon International Eastbourne, Errani lost in the first round of qualifying to Verónica Cepede Royg. Ranked No. 76 at Wimbledon, Errani was defeated in the first round by Tsvetana Pironkova.
At the Swedish Open, Errani defeated Tamara Korpatsch in the first round. In the second round, she was defeated by third seed Caroline Garcia.
Errani began her US Open series at the Citi Open. She beat Risa Ozaki in the first round. She lost in the second round to fifth seed Océane Dodin.
On 7 August, it was announced that Sara Errani would be suspended for two months due to failing a doping test in February 2017, testing positive for the prohibited substance Letrozole. Errani claimed that she likely ingested letrozole by “accidentally consuming her mother's anti-cancer medication Femara” in home-made tortellini while visiting family. As a result, she was suspended for two months, with the ban ending October 2. All Errani's results from the date of her positive out-of-competition test on 16 February until a negative test on 7 June were annulled, and all ranking points and prize money accrued in this period were forfeited. Both Errani and Italian anti-doping agency Nado Italia appealed sections of the suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Nado Italia sought a longer suspension time frame, where as Errani sought to have the disqualification of her results overturned. On 11 June 2018, the CAS ruled that Errani's suspension period should be lengthened to ten months, and that the disqualification of her results should stand. In 2012, Errani had already faced questions about her involvement with doping doctor Luis Garcia del Moral.
2018
In January, Errani lost in the first round of the Auckland Open, but went on to win the doubles title partnering Bibiane Schoofs. She ended her 10-year appearance at Australian Open as she lost in the qualifying draws for the tournament. Errani went on to lose in the qualifying draw of the St Petersburg Open.In February, Errani qualified for Dubai Championships. In the first round, she defeated Lesia Tsurenko. In the second round, she was defeated by the eventual semifinalist Angelique Kerber.
In March, after coming through qualifying rounds, Errani won her first singles title after a drought of two years at the Indian Wells 125k, by defeating Kateryna Bondarenko in the final.
Playing style
During the 2012 season, Errani became known for producing a high first-serve percentage. Having won multiple titles on clay, she is widely recognized as a clay-court specialist and is known for her use of strategy on the surface, including her tendency to position herself well and to return serves early. Being a doubles specialist as well, she is noted for her speed around the court and for hitting the ball with a lot of spin, as well as for her deep and loopy groundstrokes.The main weakness of Errani's game is the serve. She uses an abbreviated motion and with a small stature, she is unable to hit fast serves. As of September 2017, she has only hit two aces in the entire year. Errani set the record for slowest ever serve at 49 mph.