maria sharapova of russia defeated simona halep of romania 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 to win her second french open championship in three years. sharapova now has five major singles titles. she emerged triumphant at wimbledon in 2004, the u.s. open in 2006 and the australian open in 2008.
their highly competitive match was the first women's roland garros final to go three sets in 13 years. both women showcased explosive offensive shotmaking, lengthy baseline exchanges and tremendous defensive play for three hours and two minutes. sharapova improved her ranking from #7 to #5. halep, in her first major singles final, is now world #3.
sharapova said, "this is the toughest grand slam final i've ever played." its not her favorite surface, but she's 54-4 with seven titles on clay since 2012. sharapova said, "if somebody had told me at some stage in my career, that i'd have more roland garros titles than any other grand slam, i'd probably go get drunk, or tell them to get drunk. one or the other."
rafael nadal of spain defeated novak djokovic of serbia 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 to win his ninth french open singles championship, and fifth in a row, both records. the world #1 now has 14 major singles titles, equaling american pete sampras for second best all-time. roger federer of switzerland has 17 career major titles.
nadal leads world #2 djokovic 23-19 in their unheralded rivalry among men historically. nadal is 6-0 against djokovic at roland garros, beating djokovic in the 2012 final and 2013 semi-finals. afterwards nadal said, "sorry for him today. i think he deserves to win this tournament. i am sure he will do it in the future."
their physically demanding battle lasted three hours and 30 minutes. dueling in 80 degrees under a clear blue sky both men were resilient. but once again, nadal - the king of clay - reigned supreme. his french open record is 66-1. since losing to robin soderling in the fourth round in 2009, nadal has 35 consecutive wins. nadal said, "for me, playing here in roland garros is just unforgettable, forever."
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment