Maria Sharapova wins second French Open title
莎拉波娃法网夺冠 第五个大满贯冠军头衔
Fourth seed Simona Halep faced former champion Maria Sharapova in the women’s final at the French Open on Saturday. Sharapova was looking to regain her 2012 Roland Garros title having lost to Serena Williams in the 2013 final.
Halep also aiming to become only the second Romanian woman to win a grand slam singles title after Virginia Ruzici in 1978.
The Russian seventh seed had a sluggish start as she was broken in her first service game. Halep guided her shots superbly into the corners of the court as she took a 2-0 lead.
But Sharapova went on a brutal run that saw her reel off four straight games to take a commanding 4-2 lead. Halep surrendering another break of serve for Sharapova to take the opening set 6-4.
The Russian then raced into a 2-0 second set lead only for Halep to come back at her. Producing a series of superb points, Halep broke back and held serve to level the set at 2-2.
With the set culminating in a tie break, Sharapova looked poised to clinch the title when serving at 5-3. But four poor points from the seventh seed saw Halep taking full advantage, snatching the set and forcing the match into a deciding set.
The 2012 champion composed herself, saving two break points to lead the set 3-2. But Halep showed plenty of fighting spirit before the Romanian drew level at 4-4.
Reeling off a stunning sequence of eight straight points saw Sharapova break Halep to lead 5-4, before holding serve to love and capturing the title with her first match point. The 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 win saw Sharapova take her second French Open title, and fifth Grand Slam of her career. It takes her overall Grand Slam tally to five and is the first time she has won a Major more than once.
"It’s such an emotional victory for me in my career. You know, I have been in many Grand Slam finals, and every one feels very different. I feel like as I get older I appreciate those situations so much more. When it’s over, after it being such an emotional match, everything just kind of lets go. You just realise you won another Grand Slam, and Roland Garros at that," said Sharapova.
"I was crying at that moment for a few minutes, and then I was smiling because I said that it was my first Grand Slam final, and I have to be happy, to smile, because I did everything on court. I played very good tennis, very good level. So I’m really proud about these two weeks. They were incredible weeks here and incredible tournament. I’m really happy, and it was an amazing feeling on court today," said Simona Halep.
French pair beat the Spaniards in straight sets
In the men’s doubles final, there was plenty for the Parisian crowd to cheer for, as Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France took on Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez of Spain. While the French pair clearly had the support of the crowd, the Spaniards had dispatched top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in the quarter finals and were many people’s tip for the title. But it was Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin who prevailed, dominating the Spaniards and taking the win 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 with their first match point.