Sharapova and Nadal Triumph at French Open 2014
June 8th, 2014
The 2014 French Open drew to an exciting close on Sunday, June 8th when Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal again smashed records at the French tournament by winning his ninth men's singles title. Russian-born Maria Sharapova scored her second win in the women's singles tournament, proving she was more than a one-time champion at Roland-Garros.
The 28-year old Nadal beat Serbian rival Novak Djokovic under sunny conditions on the famed red clay courts, notoriously more difficult to play on than other materials.
The Spaniard won the match 3-6 7-5 6-2 6-4 on Sunday at the Roland Garros stadium in western Paris. According to the Independent, Djokovic's goal was to become only the eighth player in the men's singles tournament history to win all four grand slam titles, but despite a slow start, Nadal came out to triumph by the game's end. As the Independent article underlines, Nadal is the first man to win the French Open title five years in a row, which means he is now tied with Pete Sampras on 14 grand slam singles titles. He is currently ranked number one in the world in the men's singles category.
Meanwhile, the women's singles championship proved equally exciting. Just a day earlier, on Saturday, Russia's rising star Maria Sharapova decisively beat Romanian fourth seed Simona Halep in a heated match (6-4, 6-7 (7/5), 6-4.). Commentators noted that the intense match between the two players-- lasting an exhausting three hours and two minutes-- was the longest women's final at Roland Garros since 1996.
The large crowd of spectators filling the stalls at Roland Garros remained fixated on the two players and their remarkable feat of endurance.
This marked Sharapova's second win at Roland Garros, having come away with a title in 2012. It was also her fifth grand slam win, following on the heels of victories at Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open of 2006, and the Australian Open in 2008.
While followed a bit less avidly than the singles' tournaments, the doubles tournaments also culminated in exciting finals over the weekend. In the women's category, China's Peng Shuai and Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei teamed up to win their second Grand Slam title, beating Italy's duo Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani (6-4 and 6-1) on Sunday.
Peng and Hsieh, both 28 years old, had snagged the Wimbledon title a year earlier, with Peng the first Chinese player to win the championship.
In the men's doubles category, meanwhile, French tennis pros Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin won their debut Grand Slam title, triumphing over Spanish rivals Marc Lopez and Marcel Granollers (6-3, 7-6 (1)) on Saturday. According to the Associated Press, they became the first French doubles duo to win the men's doubles at the French Open since 1984, when Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte took away the title.
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