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Reserved for S.Williams

I watched the match between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova today. It was good, so good that for a second I actually thought that Maria Sharapova might actually just stand a chance in this one despite her loss to Serena in the Australian open of 2007.

Serena Williams quickly dispelled any thought of that with her victory of 6-4, 6-4 and slinked off with the trophy, or rather pumped her fist and then slinked off victorious with the trophy.

This is the second time that Serena Williams has defeated Maria in a Grand Slam title since she and Sharapova came head to head in 2004 Wimbledon (which Serena by the way) and also the second time she’s won the French open title, he first being in 2002 against her sister Venus Williams.

You’d think at the age of 31 she’d show some signs of aging, slowing down but her defence has never been better and her movements on the court were so precise, amazing and downright commendable in terms of accuracy. Maria Sharapova was good, but come one. She’s no Serena Williams.

After Serena Williams won the match, she thanked everyone in French, saying “I think I am a Parisian” which was true as she’d been spending most of her year in her apartment in Paris. She thanked her coach, her family and accidentally caught up in the moment, she thanked herself in a burst of giggles, which I’ll allow seeing as this was after all, a big win.

With 16 Grand Slam titles to her name, Serena Williams is just two Grand Slam titles behind legendary players Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, both who are now retired at the rate she’s going I’d be surprised if she doesn’t get a lot more wins under her belt.

Though Serena dominated the spotlight, Maria Sharapova should not be forgotten, she played a good game and made it to the finals, meaning that the only person better than her in the entire tournament was Williams, which, is an impressive feat.

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Two hours before her French Open final, Serena Williams practiced on center court, the stands deserted as she whacked one winner after another to the distant sounds of a brass band playing on the plaza.

When the music stopped, the seats filled and the match began, Williams went on defense, relentlessly chasing down one shot after another to defeat familiar foil Maria Sharapova. With a 6-4, 6-4 victory, the No. 1-ranked Williams won her first French Open championship since 2002.

“Eleven years,” Williams said in French during the trophy ceremony. “I think it’s unbelievable. Now I have 16 Grand Slam titles. It’s difficult for me to speak because I’m so excited.”

Then the national anthem played for the first American singles champion at Roland Garros since Williams’ previous title.

Williams whacked 10 aces, including three in the final game, and the last came on match point at 123 mph — her hardest serve of the day. She then sank to her knees, screamed at the sky and buried her face in the clay.

The victory completed her rebound from a shocking loss to 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano in the first round at the French Open a year ago. Since that defeat she’s 74-3, including titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the London Olympics and the season-ending WTA Championships.

Both finalists swung with their typical aggressiveness from the baseline, but Williams’ superior serve and defense proved the difference. She silently ran side to side whipping groundstrokes with little apparent strain, while Sharapova often found herself lunging after the ball to stay in the point, with each shot accompanied by her familiar shriek.

When Williams once summoned a grunt herself to match Sharapova’s volume and pound a winner, the crowd responded with a laugh.

Sharapova completed a career Grand Slam by winning Roland Garros last year, but she’s still looking for a breakthrough against Williams, who has won their past 13 meetings since 2004.

“I played a great tournament and I ran into a really tough champion today,” Sharapova said.

Lately Williams beats everyone. She extended her career-best winning streak to 31 matches.

At 31, she became the oldest woman to win a major title since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1990 at age 33. Her 11-year gap between Roland Garros titles is the longest for any woman.

Williams, who has a home in Paris, is already thinking about winning again next year.

“I love Paris,” she said. “I spend a lot of time here. I live here. I practice here. I think I am a Parisian.”

Williams also congratulated Sharapova during the ceremony.

“She played a beautiful final,” Williams said in French. “She’s a great champion. I hope to be with her again next year.”

“Merci beaucoup,” Sharapova responded with a laugh.

In an all-Spanish final Sunday, Rafael Nadal will try to become the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam event when he plays first-time major finalist David Ferrer.

The women’s final, the first between No. 1 and No. 2 at a Grand Slam tournament since 2004, wasn’t as close as their rankings. It has been 12 years since the most recent three-set women’s title match at Roland Garros.

Playing in hazy, warm weather, the finalists took ferocious swings from the start. With fans perhaps fearful that Williams would win quickly, they began shouting encouragement toward Sharapova after she lost the first two points.

She overcame four break points to hold in the opening game and led 2-0 before Williams began to assert herself. It took Williams 17 minutes to win a game, but then she swept four in a row.

After Sharapova took the next two for 4-all, Williams surged at the end of the set, taking the lead for good by winning eight of the final 10 points.

Sharapova had to dig in again to hold at the start of the second set, fending off five break points, and it was all downhill for her from there. Williams easily held serve all the way to the finish.

She improved to 16-4 in Grand Slam finals. She leads all active women with her 16 major titles and is sixth on the all-time list. Margaret Court holds the record with 24.

Williams improved to 43-2 this year, including 23-0 on clay. Now comes the switch to grass, and she’ll be a heavy favorite to win Wimbledon for the sixth time.

Related articles

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• Congratulations: Serena Williams Defeats Maria Sharapova To Win 2013 French Open And 16th Grand Slam! (bossip.com)
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• Serena Williams wins French Open (wjla.com)
• Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova to win the 2013 French Open (abc.net.au)
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Normally, it might be seen as something to be proud of.

A game coming of age on the global stage.

However, Indian cricketers do not want the spotlight on their wealth. Not at this time when the Indian Premier League T20’s 6th edition– one of the biggest cash cows for cricketers across the globe – is under a huge cloud of illegal betting and spot-fixing.

India’s cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is in the Top 20 of Forbes’ latest list of the world’s highest-paid athletes.

MSD is at number 16 on the list with Forbes citing his total earnings at $31.5 million, salary and winnings at $3.5 million and endorsements at $28 million.

Dhoni is currently battling questions raised by the Indian media about a conflict of interest he has by holding a stake in a sports company that manages some of the players in the Indian cricket team.

Dhoni also captains the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a team that is in the eye of the IPL match-fixing, betting scandal, with one of its owners in a police probe over spot-fixing.

Dhoni could have done without the focus on his wealth at this point in time.

What is really impressive about the Forbes ranking is Dhoni’s position vis-à-vis other global athletes.

Consider this.

There is only one other cricketer in the top 100.

Sachin Tendulkar, despite his age and his drop in form, still pulls in the bucks.

Wayne Rooney. (AFP)

Forbes has his wealth broken down as Total Earnings: $22 million; Salary/winnings: $4 million; Endorsements: $18 million. Where is he on the list? At number 51.

Much lower than Dhoni, but, higher than Wayne Rooney who can only make it to number 61 on the list with total earnings at $21.1 million, salary/winnings at $18.1 million and endorsements at $3 million.

Dhoni sits high above these two global brand icons and leaves some other big name sportspersons way down the list.

Maria Sharapova (Getty)

Among those that cannot match the owner of cricket’s ‘helicopter shot’ are Fernando Alonso at number 19 (total earnings: $30 million), Maria Sharapova at 22 (total earnings: $29 million), Novak Djokovic at 28 (total earnings: $26.9 million), Rafael Nadal at 30 (total earnings: $26.4 million) and the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt, who can only make number 40 on Forbes’ list with total earnings of $24.2 million.

Dhoni is rich. So rich in fact that he is now in the company of boxing’s elite. Dhoni at number 16 on the list has two of the richest sportsmen in history sitting just above him. These two have more often than not been at the top of this list.

Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao both sit at number 14, just above Dhoni. Floyd’s total earnings according to Forbes is $34 million as is Filipino legend Pacquiao’s.

May be one more IPL and MSD will over-take them as well.

The World’s Top 10 Highest-Paid Athletes

#1 Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods (REUTERS)

Total Earnings: $78.1 million
Salary/winnings: $13.1 million
Endorsements: $65 million
 
#2 Roger Federer

Roger Federer (AFP)

Total Earnings: $71.5 million
Salary/winnings: $6.5 million
Endorsements: $65 million
 
#3 Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant (AP)

Total earnings: $61.9 million
Salary/winnings: $27.9 million
Endorsements: $34 million
 
#4 LeBron James

Total Earnings: $59.8 million
Salary/winnings: $17.8 million
Endorsements: $42 million
 
#5 Drew Brees

Total Earnings: $51 million
Salary/winnings: $40 million
Endorsements: $11 million
 
#6 Aaron Rodgers

Total Earnings: $49 million
Salary/winnings: $43 million
Endorsements: $6 million
 
#7 Phil Mickelson

Total Earnings: $48.7 million
Salary/winnings: $4.7 million
Endorsements: $44 million
 
#8 David Beckham

David Beckham (AFP)

Total Earnings: $47.2 million
Salary/winnings: $5.2 million
Endorsements: $42 million
 
#9 Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo (AP)

Total Earnings: $44 million
Salary/winnings: $23 million
Endorsements: $21 million
 
#10 Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi (Getty)

Total Earnings: $41.3 million
Salary/winnings: $20.3 million
Endorsements: $21 million
 
List courtesy Forbes.com
 
Boxers down, Tiger on top

Manny Pacquiao (AFP) and Floyd Mayweather (Getty/Gallo)

Tiger Woods, whose four wins this season have seen him return to the top of golf’s world rankings, is also back on top of Forbes’ list of highest-paid sports figures.

An article posted on the magazine’s website this week gives the rundown of the 2013 list, which will appear in the June 24 issue.

Woods had topped the Forbes list from 2001-2011 — staying there despite the loss of some sponsors in the wake of the sex scandal that engulfed him in November of 2009.

But he fell to third last year, behind boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Forbes calculates he is back on top, raking in $78.1 million over the 12 months from June 1, 2012 through June 1, 2013 from prize money, endorsements, appearance fees and golf course design work.

His resurgence on the course has seen him double his prize money from the previous 12 months.

According to Forbes, Woods’s victories have further boosted his income thanks to bonuses tied to wins from sponsors Nike and Rolex, while his course design business is improving after some setbacks.

Swiss tennis great Roger Federer ranks second on the list with earnings of $71.5 million, while Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is third at 61.9 million.

Miami Heat star LeBron James, the NBA Most Valuable Player whose team is battling to repeat as champion this season, came in fourth with $59.8 million and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees completed the top five with $51 million.

Mayweather dropped from first to 14th this year — tied with Filipino fight king Pacquiao.

Mayweather had earnings of $34 million from his fight with Robert Guerrero in May, while in the period covered for the 2012 list he fought twice.

Pacquiao netted $26 million from his December fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, according to Forbes, which reckons Pacquiao also pulled in an estimated $8 million in endorsements.

Russian Maria Sharapova was the highest earning woman on the list, in 22nd place. Fellow tennis players Serena Williams of the United States and Li Na of China were the only other women in the list of 100 sports figures.

Forbes based its earnings figures on salaries, bonuses, prize money, appearance fees and licensing and endorsement income for the 12 months between June 1, 2012 and June 1, 2013.

Serena Williams celebrates after winning 6-4,6-4 in Paris. (Image available on sports.ndtv.com)

Upon winning her second French Open title (first since 2002) over Maria Sharapova in a close but still comfortable two sets I could not help but think back to something Serena said before the tournament. When asked about whom her toughest challenger would be this year coming into Paris, she remarked, “The lady in the mirror is the ultimate opponent for me.”

Those were blunt words that made perfect sense for a player who even though came in having won 24 straight matches still had to remember her shocking first round exit in 2012. To paraphrase the great Michael Jackson song, she would only really need to look inward if she wanted to get past previous failures in Paris and once again raise the Lenglen trophy.

I’m Starting With The Lady In
The Mirror,
(Lady In The Mirror-Oh
Yeah!)
I’m Asking Her To Change
Her Ways

I could only believe in this case that the lady in the mirror was smiling back at Serena after these two past weeks

A Calmer Serena

I cannot help but notice how Serena has controlled the ‘lady in the mirror’ by showing a renewed sense of calmness on court. She has fewer displays of emotion or frustration but that does not mean she has lost her competitive drive or killer instinct, it just seems to be handled internally. Gone are the outbursts that hurt her so publicly in the ’09 and ’11 US Opens, instead she is more reserved on court and that has helped her not make any erroneous errors.

I’m sure part of the reason is the gradual maturation and self-awareness that she has developed since her health scare. She senses that she can really do something special every time she steps out on the court and wants to see how much she still can achieve.

An exclusive club of champions

Williams, Graf, Navratilova and Evert all have won each slam at least twice

This victory was extra significant because she now joins the exclusive group of Evert, Navratilova and Graf as the only players to win each slam at least twice in the Open era. We are also potentially looking at Serena tying Chris and Martina’s total of 18 by the end of this year (she will be a heavy favourite at both Wimbledon and New York).

I’m sure she has all these markers in the back of her head as she tries to remain motivated and playing at this incredible level when she turns 32 this summer!

The court

The clenched fist

The intensity

The exhilaration

The mother

The Coach

The Umpire

The Legend

The agony of defeat

The Winner

The audience

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then The Red Man may as well shut up, but we are sending out Paw Snaps and Twirls to Serena Williams tonight for her fabulous play at The French Open eleven years to the day since the last time she won it.  Now there’s a monkey off your back if I ever saw one.  Last year she was out in the first round – and then she hires the new French Coach and voila!  She wins the whole enchilada in 2013.  Here’s hoping her mother’s pictures turn out great.  Certainly no one can take better pictures of you than your mother.

Arantxa Sanchez looked very good and the old woman Slow seemed happy to see her.  She and Pretty remembered watching her play at The Family Circle  tournament at Hilton Head when she played many years ago.  She was a fiery one and played with the best of them.

On a sour note, the Cocks lost their opener in the Super Regional against the Tar Heels.  South Carolina vs. North Carolina.  It’s hard to win when you have three errors against a great team so Go Cocks! tomorrow in Chapel Hill.  Do or die time.

Get me outta here Percy.  The Red Man has another Final to follow for the Big Finish of the French Open with Nadal  and Ferrer tomorrow morning and needs to catch a few zzzz’s.

]]> http://judgelondonsteverson.me/2013/06/09/serena-williams-is-queen-of-the-clay-court/ Sun, 09 Jun 2013 03:02:33 +0000 Judge London Steverson http://judgelondonsteverson.me/2013/06/09/serena-williams-is-queen-of-the-clay-court/

 Sobbing Serena booed by French in 2003

French Open champion Serena Williams celebrates with a trademark jig

A somewhat serene Serena Williams snuffed out the early spark from Maria Sharapova to take out her 2nd French Open singles title in Paris. In a dominant serving display, Serena, who loves the big occasion, closed out the match with 3 aces in the last game winning 6/4 6/4. It has been 11 years between celebrations in Paris for Serena, and today’s title takes her Grand Slam singles tally to 16, and kept alive her current career best winning streak of 31 matches.

It could be that Serena Williams knows how to hold a grudge. It has been said before that she has never forgotten losing the 2004 Wimbledon final to the then 17 year old Maria Sharapova. Since then Sharapova has lost 10 straight times to Williams, and despite getting close, doesn’t look likely to turn this around any time soon.

While on court Serena Williams will always play with a ruthless competitiveness, could it be, as she enters the twilight of her career that she is starting to get the bigger picture. Partly due to her relationship with French player maker, Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena addressed the crowd in French and referred to her love of Paris, perhaps she realises a few weeks shy of her 32nd birthday that every moment needs to be savoured. With Serena one thing will always stand out. “I want more…”

The PRO

Serena Williams of United States of America celebrates match point in her Women’s Singles Final match against Maria Sharapova of Russia during day fourteen of French Open at Roland Garros on June 8, 2013 in Paris, France. (credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

PARIS, France (Sports Network) - Serena Williams is again the French Open champion, winning the title for the second time with a straight-set victory over defending champion Maria Sharapova in Saturday’s final.

The top-seeded Williams battled past a gritty Sharapova in a 6-4, 6-4 decision on Court Chatrier, giving the American star her 16th Grand Slam championship and first at Roland Garros since 2002.

“Since then, there were definitely a few years I felt like I could have won and I didn’t,” said Williams. “And I think it was mostly on my racquet and my fault that I didn’t win. But I’m still here and still fighting and doing the best that I can for each of my matches.”

Williams extended her career-best winning streak to 31 matches and is 23-0 on clay this year, but it wasn’t easy against a determined Sharapova, who last year completed a career Grand Slam with her triumph over Sara Errani on the final Saturday in Paris.

Sharapova broke serve twice in the opening set on this particular Saturday and continually saved break point after break point against her own serve, but ultimately lost to Williams for the 13th straight time. Four of those setbacks have come this year and the Russian star fell to 2-14 lifetime against Williams.

“I played a great tournament and ran into a great champion today,” said Sharapova, who on Saturday saved 11-of-15 break points overall.

Williams also beat Sharapova for titles this year in Madrid and Miami, in addition to a semifinal win in Doha. Saturday’s victory gave Williams a 4-1 mark in their Grand Slam matchups. The lone Sharapova win came in the 2004 Wimbledon finale.

Sharapova was virtually no match for Williams a month ago in the Madrid final, dropping a 6-1, 6-4 decision. Saturday’s match, though, was more like Miami, when Williams had to rally for a three-set win.

After Williams won the first three points of Saturday’s match with ease against the Sharapova serve, the Russian battled back. She saved each of those three break points, the last with an ace, and fought off another break point before one more big serve gave her the opening game.

Sharapova then quickly broke serve and had two game points for a 3-0 lead, but could not capitalize.

“Well, 2-0, 40-15,” said Sharapova about her chance to take control early. “I know I’m nitpicking here, but these are moments against her that I feel that I should be able to take.”

Williams fought back and broke serve with an overhead, then held to even the set and broke again for a 3-2 edge after first squandering a pair of chances. She held again before Sharapova stopped the Williams run with an easy hold.

Sharapova then came up with a gutsy break for a 4-4 tie when Williams blasted a forehand long, but the American came right back and broke serve with a forehand winner.

Williams won the first three points of the next game, but Sharapova saved one set point with a forehand winner. She had no answer on the next point, which Williams controlled with a heavy serve that led to a wide Sharapova backhand pass to end the set.

Much like the opening game of the match, Sharapova was forced to save five break-point chances against her serve to start the second set and finally held with a forehand winner.

Williams, though, never faced a break point in the second set and always appeared to have Sharapova on her heels during the Russian’s service games. Sharapova lost the first point in each of her first seven service games and faced at least one break point in six of the first seven.

A break of Sharapova’s serve in the third game gave Williams a 2-1 lead and she never relinquished the advantage. A hold at love made it 5-3 and her 10th ace closed out the nearly two-hour match.

Williams’ victory completed a full turnaround from last year, when she was stunned in the first round at Roland Garros by Virginie Razzano. It was her first-ever loss in the first round of a Grand Slam event.

Since that setback, though, Williams has a match record of 74-3 with major titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, as well as Olympic gold. She is now 16-4 all-time in Grand Slam finals and owns 52 career titles.

“I was more relaxed this time going in,” said Williams about coming into this year’s tournament after last year’s loss. “I played so well leading up to the French Open but I didn’t put any pressure on myself. Losing in the first round (last year) definitely helped me realize I have no points to defend. I have nothing to lose. I can just relax and do what I want to do here.”

Sharapova fell to 29-22 in title matches, including 4-4 in Grand Slams. She was trying to become the first repeat winner at Roland Garros since Justine Henin won three in a row from 2005-07.

“I think getting to the Roland Garros final is not too shabby, so I’d say that’s a positive,” added Sharapova. “Coming back as a defending champion is never easy, so I’m happy that I was able to produce good tennis within these last two weeks and come to that stage.”

Saturday’s final marked the first matchup of the two top-ranked women at a French final in 18 years.

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Serena Williams (click to enlarge)

Serena Williams is neither an irresistible force nor an immoval object. Right now, she is both. Sure, once in a while a few errant shots will remind us she’s human, but if you are on the other side of the net from her these days it seems like a near-impossible task to beat her unless she helps out a little with injury or an off day. From the start of the Roland Garros 2013 Ladies Final, Maria Sharapova was Sisyphus, rolling the rock uphill only to have it roll back down and start over again. She fought back from love-40 down to hold serve, but for 7 straight service games Serena put Masha behind the eight ball by winning the first point against Sharapova’s serve. Although it was one of Masha’s more competitive matches against Williams lately, it still seemed like she was always on the edge, just fighting to keep it respectable and not let Serena run away. Even when Sharapova broke, it was just a matter of time until Serena broke back. With no prime Justine Henin or Lindsay Davenport type player walking through the door, expect Serena to make a run for 20 Major titles, maybe more. This is a woman in Serena in the midst of an historic run. Her 6-4 6-4 triumph over Masha gave her not only her second Roland Garros crown. It allows her to take another step on a journey that might end with her being the greatest female player ever.

ALL PICS CLICK TO ENLARGE

SERENA WILLIAMS

MARIA SHARAPOVA

Maria Sharapova couldn’t keep Serena Williams from willing her 16th Grand Slam title and her first French Open win since 2002. For the past two weeks, it’s been pretty easy to see how Serena was dominating this Open and the odds were definitely against Sharapova. Williams was able to win the match in under two hours with a serve that was just too powerful for Sharapova, although she did put up a good fight.  Much better than many expected.

2013 French Open: Serena Williams Lands 16th Grand Slam Title – Best Movies Ever News.

Today we lost to Serena Williams, 6-4, 6-4, in the women’s final of Roland Garros. Valiant efforts from Maria, for sure, but the American has been playing superbly since winning Wimbledon last year and frankly the French cup (or plate, was it?) was hers for the taking.

Not since today have I been asked to shriek for Maria in a Grand Slam Final. Big deal, you guys! So when I got the call from her coaches, it didn’t even take me a second to say “Oui!”

Now for a little gossip: I  overheard from TPTB that I was pinch-hitting for a Belarusian shrieker. (Usually, they wouldn’t let us know where the other shriekers are from – everything’s top-secret –  but I couldn’t un-hear what I heard. Okay, scrap that, I really, really tried to hear! Everything! It was during my shrieking practice, which usually happens an hour before any actual match, and I timed my shrieks perfectly to catch the juicy details. I’m pretty convinced that TPTB were fooled into thinking I wasn’t listening.)

Apparently, this Belarusian shrieker grew up in, well, Belarus with no other than Vika Azarenka! They were neighbors, childhood friends even! The TPTB hired her because during her interview for the job she made a bold claim that she taught Azarenka those big, round grunting sounds that the current World No.3 has been masquerading as her own creation for a long time now. Uh oh.

And and and… this Belarusian made special requests to get the semifinal shrieking assignment (that’s when Maria made Vika eat clay) allegedly to get back at her former playmate. Vengeance was written all over her probably-Vikaesque face. (I haven’t actually seen her. I just have a lot of other visual pegs. I don’t know any other soul from Belarus. I should really go out more often.)

I would love to meet this Belarusian shrieker for three good reasons – she’s a fellow shrieker, she doesn’t like Vika, and she’s from Belarus! I mean how many people can say that they’ve hung out with someone from Belarus? Aside from the Belarusians themselves, I doubt that there’s many.

If she agrees, we could put up a Secret Shrieking School!  We hear earplug sales during Grand Slams are as high as Grand Prix’s so that means more young tennis stars are taking to shrieking as a strategy. Yes yes yes.

It’s not easy what we do, us shriekers. While I can’t talk about the tricks of the trade, I can tell you this: Maria doesn’t shriek all the shrieks that she shrieks when she’s shrieking in a match. She just can’t. Tires her and throws her off her game (she doesn’t like hearing her own voice that much I was told during new-hire orientation.)

And no, contrary to popular perception, you don’t have to have had experience in porn to become a shrieker. Tha is just so unfair you guys, I mean seriously, we’ve all been shrieking our assess off without actually showing our assess. Some respect, please.

TPTB follows a carefully-orchestrated selection of shriekers. We’re gifted songstresses in our own right. The manner in which we received our acceptance letters is not too different from when Harry received his from HSWW.

Shrieking is natural to us, but we get continuing education on:

Tennis, Timing and Teamwork.

I’d share more but my special tea is now ready, and I’m supposed to drink this as a post-match up ritual. More to come later.

Williams went on defense, relentlessly chasing down one shot after another to defeat familiar foil Maria Sharapova. With a 6-4, 6-4 victory, the No. 1-ranked Williams won her first French Open championship since 2002.

“Eleven years,” Williams said in French during the trophy ceremony. “I think it’s unbelievable. Now I have 16 Grand Slam titles. It’s difficult for me to speak because I’m so excited.”

Serena Williams topped off her defeat over Maria Sharapova by giving her victory speech in french! Brains and Beauty! Congratulations once again!

Below is a video of Serena Williams winning serve!

Source: Fox News

A major title was an elusive one for Serena Williams to get a hold of.  It took her 11 years between titles but finally Serena is able to hoist the French Open Title.  This has got to be one of her most gratifying win of her illustrious career.

After she was given up for no longer relevant.  After many said she has lost her mental focus.  Serena has stepped back up into dominating fashion.  Her sister however looks on her way out soon.  Venus hasn’t been winning lately or even in contention.  Serena seems to be poised to try and win every major.

Serena Williams is now just two major titles away from tying Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. (Getty Images)

Serena Williams defeated defending champion Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday to win the French Open.

It’s been a long, dominant road back to Paris for Williams, who lost in the first round last year. Since then, she’s won three of the last four Slams (and Olympic gold), taken over the No. 1 ranking (the oldest woman to do so) and compiled a 73-3 record.

Williams, who has won a career-high 31 consecutive matches, will go into Wimbledon as the overwhelming favorite to defend her title.

Here are some of our favorite photos from Serena’s 16th major title. Watch your back, Roger Federer. She’s coming for you.

WERTHEIM: Serena’s personalities, legendary game produce French renaissance

Sharapova produced her best performance against Serena in years, but it wasn’t enough to prevent her 13th consecutive loss to Williams. (Petr David Josek/AP)

Has there ever been a more athletically gifted woman to play the sport? Between her speed and power, she’s virtually impossible to beat at her best. (Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images)

The Russian said she had to take advantage of her chances to stop Williams from steamrolling, and she made good on that, going 2-for-2 on break points. But her serve was no match for Serena’s return, and it’s the misses at 30-all that will haunt her. (Michel Euler/AP)

Though Sharapova mounted her charge, Williams stayed calm, controlled and focused throughout. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

“Gosh darn it all to heck!” (Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images)

Time to exorcise the demons. (Petr David Josek/AP)

Hands up, head bowed. (AP)

“Look ma! Trophy!” (Michel Euler/AP)

This is what happens when you put the two biggest names in the women’s game on one stage. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

“Are you looking at my titles?” (Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images)

How big was this win? It brought these (formerly?) bitter rivals together. So, yeah, earth-shattering stuff. (Rindoff/Charriau/WireImages)

It took 11 years, but Serena finally got those French bookends she’s always wanted. (AFP/Getty Images)

ZACCARDI: Is Serena best of her generation (man or woman?)