Paris:

Serena Williams won a dramatic French Open
final against Czech 13th seed Lucie Safarova to
claim her 20th Grand Slam title.
The American, ranked number one, needed two
hours and one minute to win 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 at
Roland Garros.
Safarova, playing her first Grand Slam final, led
by a break in the decider but Williams won the
last six games.


The 33-year-old becomes the third player - male
or female - to win 20 major singles titles.
Only Germany's Steffi Graf on 22 has won more
since the open era began in 1968, with
Australia's Margaret Court collecting 24 between
1960 and 1973.


Victory at Wimbledon in July would see Williams
hold all four major titles at once, having
managed the feat already in 2003.
There had been doubts over whether the 2002
and 2013 French Open champion would even
make it to court for Saturday's final after a
debilitating bout of sickness.

"It makes this trophy really special," Williams
said. "I really wanted it. I wanted to win so bad.
"I just felt like I had every opportunity in this
match. Being down from the second, third, fourth
round, it wasn't very easy, so I probably topped
for my most difficult time to win.

"But it also makes me feel good that I was able
to be fit and be able to win the event. I can't
believe I won, but it's cool."
Safarova said: "I'm proud that I fought back in
the second set, because it was looking like it will
be an easy match.
"Serena was really strong out there. I just
pushed myself to step up the level."
Williams had visibly struggled in Thursday's semi-
final, coughing and looking close to tears, and
then cancelled all media commitments, only
practising two hours before the final.

Analysis, BBC Tennis correspondent Russell
Fuller
"If Williams hadn't served three double faults
in one game midway through the second set,
we may never have seen what a thrilling
player Safarova can be.
"To have won the third set - even from a
break up - against a champion like Williams
always seemed unlikely, but she made the 33
year old work extremely hard for a third
consecutive Grand Slam title.


"Williams was taken to a deciding set in five
of her seven matches at Roland Garros.
Fighting illness, her extraordinary mental
strength has rarely been so evident."
The rest appeared to have had the desired effect
as she took the first set with a break in game
four and powered on in the second.
She had won all eight matches she had played
against Safarova and, serving at 4-1, 40-15 in the
second set, there appeared no possibility of the
American faltering.

However, three double faults in the game
brought Safarova unexpectedly back into the
contest, and the Czech kept herself alive again
four games later with a backhand winner.
Safarova, 28, was now much the sharper in
terms of footwork and she dominated the tie-
break before moving ahead with a break at the
start of the decider.

Williams was now struggling to keep calm,
screaming at herself after errors and picking up
a warning for her language from the umpire, but
she proved once again why she is the undisputed
number one.
Safarova double-faulted for the first time in the
match to bring Williams level at 2-2 and the top
seed ratcheted up the pressure.
Another heavy return helped her break for 4-2
and a left-handed forehand followed in the next
game as Williams reached for every shot in the
book, sealing victory with her seventh break of
the match.



http://www.chinnysblog..com/2015/06/2015-french-open-final-serena-williams.html?m=0

Yea. 20 down, three more to go. Serena the GOAT of women lawn tennis. The most dominant female athlete of this era.

I wonder what happened to NL lawn tennis thread and crew, it use to be fun.