Russia's Maria Sharapova poses with the trophy in front of the Eiffel Tower, a day after defeating Romania's Simona Halep in the women's final of the French Open tournament in Paris.
Now Halep talks of gaining “revenge” against a player she has played three times and lost against three times, although she admits she is not that sure how to go about it.
But all the signs are there for one of the most intriguing French Open women’s finals in years and, many hope, the first to go to three sets since Jennifer Capriati defeated Kim Clijsters 12-10 in the third in 2001. Halep, who has broken into the
Sharapova also towered over her opponent at 1.88 metres (6 feet 2 inches) compared to Halep's 1.68 metres (5 feet six inches).
But experience was massively on the Russian's side. This was her ninth Grand Slam final dating back 10 years, while Halep was playing in her first at the age of 22.
The two finalists reached the championship match in starkly contrasting styles. Fourth-seeded Halep did not drop a single set in her six matches, while seventh-seed Sharapova needed to battle back from first set losses in her three previous outings.
"I can't believe that at 27 I have won the French Open more times than any other Grand Slam." The consolation for Halep, whose meteoric rise to the top bracket in women's tennis over the last 18 months has projected her as a potential champion, was
But it took all her legendary grit and resolve to recover from the loss of the second set on a tie-break after she had stood just two points away from the title at 5/3. "It's the toughest Grand Slam final I have ever played," said Sharapova.
It was the 27-year-old Russian's fifth Grand Slam title, bringing her level with Martina Hingis on the all-time list and it came 10 years after she won her first major at Wimbledon 2004. Sharapova, who completed a career sweep of all four Grand Slam
Seventh seed Maria Sharapova of Russia beat Romania's fourth seed Simona Halep 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 to win her second French Open title and her 5th Grand Slam.
An ecstatic Sharapova jumped into the crowd to hug her father and teammates. "Halep played an unbelievable final. It's the toughest I have ever played. It's a dream come true to win my 2nd French Open title", says Sharapova after the win.
The tennis ace posted this picture on social networking site captioning it: Hello trophy photographers...
"I can't believe that at 27 I have won the French Open more times than any other Grand Slam." The consolation for Halep, whose meteoric rise to the top bracket in women's tennis over the last 18 months has projected her as a potential champion, was
Maria Sharapova goes all the way to claim French Open title