OK so this is my last post on the ladies 2014 French Open tournament which will cover the final which was between Maria Sharapova and the talented and in form Romanian and World No.4, Simona Halep. So let's give this one a closer look....
Right so the final in a way was a bit of unknown terrority as it was Simona Halep's first major final so it was hard to predict how it would pan out. However the final turned out to be one of the best grand slam ladies finals in quite some time, after so many routine straight set wins for the likes of players such as Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Li Na over the years this was a real battle to the very end. And in the first set Halep expressed her intent as she got a break on the Sharapova serve straight off, although the Russian typically battled back to break the Romanian and get on even terms. And play went by serve in the first set after that until 5-4, with Halep faltering to hand the first set to Sharapova. In the 2nd set Sharapova looked to be in full control as she broke Halep early on, however the plucky young Romanian was far from done as she broke back and continued to use her impressive court coverage and defensive skills to keep her in the match. And Halep even broke Sharapova twice at 5-4 and 6-5 to serve for the 2nd set, however Sharapova broke back both times and play went into a tense tiebreak, which saw momentum swing back and forth but Halep finally got the vital break and clinched the 2nd set to push play into a decider. In the decider things were close again as Sharapova got an early break but Halep yet broke back and showed her tenacity to go 4-4, but Sharapova once again showed her grit and broke yet again. And in the final game at 5-4, Sharapova held her nerves of steel and served it out to claim her second title at Roland Garros after an epic 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory.
There is no doubt this was an incredible and very worthy final to what has been an excellent ladies tournament at the French and it would difficult to imagine a better match than the one we got. Sharapova once again showed her incredible fighting spirit as she was taken the distance for the 4th time in a row in the tournament and as soon as Serena Williams exited the tournament you just knew that the Russian (should be Russian/American really!) was the favourite. So this sees Maria now hold the French open title for a second time and overall its her 5th major and out of all the surfaces Sharapova would have been expected to lift more than one slam on, you would least of all expect it to be clay. But Sharapova over the last few years has worked exceptionally hard on her clay court game and with the exception of Serena Williams, who can transcend any surface, Maria is now the best clay court player in the ladies game. And if Serena doesn't stand in her way next year I can see her winning it again and maybe a few more times before she is done.
As for Simona Halep well this was a terrific and gutsy effort for her first slam final and at no time in the match did she look flustered or overawed by the occassion. Halep also proved here beyond a doubt that she is a potential future grand slam winner and I'm sure before her career is over she will have plenty more opportunities to win a major and she will surely finish her career with at least one before she hangs up her racquet. And what was also so impressive about Halep at the tournament was the fact that she didn't even drop a single set going into the final, which was remarkable in itself and if she maintains that level for future slams then she is going to be mighty tough to stop.
So that's it for the ladies French open and it was quite a finale and it certainly announced the arrival of Simona Halep and it was also a testament to Mara Sharapova's fight qualities that she was able to claim her second RG title. Next up of course is Wimbledon and despite the fact that Serena Williams remains the favourite there, last year's tournament was very unpredictable which saw alot of upsets with Serena herself being stunned by the eventual finalist Sabine Lisicki. As for the defending champion, Marion Bartoli, well we all know that she retired not long after winning there, which was a shame as Marion was quite a player, but due to recurring injuries she felt it was time to "call it a career" as she put it herself. So whatever happens at Wimbledon this year it promises to be quite a tournament and I personally very much look forward to it.
Right well that's it for the ladies French Open in 2014 and overall it has been a better tournament to watch from the ladies perspective than the men's as the matches have been more exciting to watch. But next up is the men's final between Rafa and Djoko and it promises to be a great final, which should hopefully make up for what's been a rather underwhelming tournament on the men's side.
So until the next one its au revoir for now.
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