French Open 2013: Serena storms past Sharapova to win her 16th Grand Slam title

Zee Media Bureau

Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 to win her second French Open title and her 16th Grand Slam. UPDATES FROM THE MATCH: SECOND SET Serena wins it 6-4 Serena to serve for the set and the match. Both the players win a point each 15-15. Serena fires another ace and extends her lead to 30-15. Another good and wide serve from Serena and she plays a lofted shot for a winner, two match points for Serena! She serves another ace and Serena Wiliams has won her second French Open title! The last one she won was way back in 2002. ==================================================================================== SECOND SET Serena leads 5-4 Sharapova to serve to stay in the set. Serena’s shot goes long, 15-0. Good aggression by Sharapova who went up to the nets and Serena made an error as her return went long, 30-0. Serena once again brings her powerful forehand into the match and wins a point, 30-15. Another good rally between the two which ended after Maria’s backhand landed wide, 30-30. Sharapova wins a point with a perfect forehand winner, 40-30. Another power packed forehand from Serena, another point for Serena, deuce, 40-40. Sharapova wins the game, Serena to serve for the set and the match. ==================================================================================== SECOND SET Serena leads 5-3 Serena to serve. Serena plays a top and powerful backhand for a winner, 15-0. Good deep serve from Serena followed by an aggressive forehand winner, 30-0. Serena wins the next two points and wins the game! ==================================================================================== SECOND SET Serena leads 4-3 Sharapova to serve. She wins the first point as Serena’s shot goes long, 15-0. Serena wins the next point, 15-15. Maria comes to the nets, surprises Serena and plays a volley winner, 30-15. Another good play from Maria as she makes Serena run on both sides of the court and finally Serena’s forehand goes long, 40-15. A good rally was ended after Maria’s backhand hit the nets, 40-30. And Sharapova wins the game! ==================================================================================== SECOND SET Serena leads 3-2 Sharapova to serve. Another good rally and Sharapova ends it with a perfect forehand, 15-0. Good return of serve from Serena who wins a point with a top forehand, 15-15. Serena’s backhand goes long, 30-15. Good rally yet once again and Sharapova executes a perfect forehand to win the point, 40-15. Good return by Serena, 40-30. Maria’s shot finds the net this time, deuce, 40-40. Good serve and Serena’s return hits the nets, advantage Sharapova! And Sharapova holds her serve as Serena’s shot lands wide. ==================================================================================== SECOND SET Serena leads 3-1 Serena to serve. She wins the first point, 15-0. Sharapova’s backhand went too wide, 30-0. Sharapova is now struggling to keep with Serena’s pace as her backhand once again goes long, 40-0. Good wide serve by Serena after which she wins the game with a top forehand. ==================================================================================== SECOND SET Serena leads 2-1 Sharapova to serve. Good return from Serena after which she advanced to the nets and hit a backhand winner, 0-15. Serena’s forehand went slightly wide, 15-15. Serena won the next point, 15-30. Serena’s forehand once again went wide, 30-30. Another classy rally between these two and then Sharapova’s cross court forehand hit the nets, 30-40, break point for Serena! Maria’s backhand went wide and Serena once again breaks Sharapova’s serve! ==================================================================================== SECOND SET Scores level 1-1 Serena to serve. Good aggression from both the players after which Serena played a drop shot and then lofted Maria’s return over her head for a winner, 15-0. Serena once again decided to advance to the nets but this time didn’t succeed as an elegant forehand from Sharapova stormed past her, 15-15. Serena won the next two points, 15-40. Sharapova played her first drop shot of the match, didn’t work as Serena won the game. ==================================================================================== SECOND SET Sharapova leads 1-0 Sharapova to serve. Aggression from Serena and Maria’s return finds the net, 0-15. Double-fault by Sharapova, 0-30. Another top rally between the two players and finally Serena’s forehand went wide, 15-30. Another double-fault by Sharapova, 15-40, two break points for Serena! Serena’s backhand landed long, one more break point to go, 30-40. Good serve from Sharapova and Serena’s return goes wide, deuce, 40-40. Sharapova’s forehand lands long, Serena gets the advantage. Sharapova wins the next point, deuce again! Sharapova’s backhand hits the nets, advantage Serena! Deuce again as Serena’s backhand found the net this time. Sharapova’s backhand landed long, and Serena once again got the advantage. Top play from Sharapova who first sent Serena to her right and then executed a perfect forehand for a winner, deuce again! And finally Sharapova gets the advantage after Serena’s shot hit the nets. And Sharapova seals the game with another top forehand. ==================================================================================== FIRST SET Serena wins it 6-4 Serena serving for the set. She wins the first point, 15-0. Maria’s backhand finds the net, 30-0. Serena serves an ace just at the right time that also gives her three set points! Maria shows some aggression, returns the serve well and then executes a perfect forehand winner, 40-15. Two more set points to go for Serena. Serena seals the set 6-4! ==================================================================================== FIRST SET Serena leads 5-4 Sharapova to serve. Serena once again moved to the nets and forced Sharapova to make another error, 0-15. Good serve from Maria and this time Serena’s shot landed long, 15-15. Top rally once again between the two top players and finally Maria’s backhand hit the nets, 15-30. Sharapova’s backhand once again goes long and now Serena has two break points! Serena wins the game with a superb forehand and Maria couldn’t do much there, Serena breaks again! ==================================================================================== FIRST SET Scores level 4-4 Serena to serve. The point had a good rally but then Sharapova’s backhand landed long, 15-0. Another good return from Maria and as a result of which this time Serena’s return went long, 15-15. Serena’s ace extended her lead to 30-15. Top play yet once again from Sharapova and Serena’s forehand from cross the court landed wide, 30-30. Serena’s forehand from cross the court once again finds the net, 30-40, break point for Sharapova! Another top return from Sharapova and she has capitalised on the break point, wins the game as Serena’s shot goes long. ==================================================================================== FIRST SET Serena leads 4-2 Serena to serve. Serena’s forehand landed long, 0-15. This time Maria’s forehand went long, 15-15. Serena won the next two points, 40-15. Serena played a drop shot but Maria was quick to cover some court and smash that past Serena for a winner, 40-30. Sharapova’s shot lands wide and Serena wins the game! ==================================================================================== FIRST SET Serena leads 3-2 Sharapova to serve. Serena won the first two points, 0-30. Sharapova’s backhand once again lands long and Serena once again has three break points, 0-40! Serena once again came to the nets, but this time Maria was prepared as she flicked a backhand past Serena whose return found the nets, 15-40. Two more break points for Serena. This time Serena’s backhand goes long, 30-40. One more break point for Serena but Sharapova isn’t playing under any sort of pressure for sure! Sharapova’s forehand goes long and once again Serena has broken Sharapova’s serve! ==================================================================================== FIRST SET Scores level 2-2 Serena to serve. The first serve saw a good return from Maria and Serena’s shot hit the nets, 0-15. Serena followed it with an ace, 15-15. Sharapova’s shot went long, 15-30. Maria once again returned a serve in good manner but then Serena advanced to the nets and forced Maria to make an error, 30-15. Sharapova once again pounced on Serena’s serve and Serena’s return hit the nets, 30-30. Good wide serve from Serena this time and it was followed by a forehand winner from her, 40-30. And Serena manages to win the game, to level score. FIRST SET Sharapova leads 2-1 Sharapova to serve. Serena wins the first point, 0-15. Maria wins the next point, 15-15. Maria’s forehand goes wide and that brought the game back to deuce. A powerful return from Serena gave her the advantage. Serena once again displayed some powerful tennis and Serena has broken Sharapova’s serve with a volley winner! ==================================================================================== FIRST SET Sharapova leads 2-0 Serena to serve. She wins the first point off a powerful forehand, 15-0. Maria’s return was good and Serena’s return finds the net, 15-15. Another good return from Sharapova and Serena’s forehand lands long, 15-30. Maria is playing some superb tennis here, another good return and Serena’s return lands long again, 15-40. Two break points for Sharapova! And after a good rally, Serena’s forehand lands wide and Sharapova has broken Serena’s serve! ==================================================================================== FIRST SET Sharapova leads 1-0 Sharapova to serve. And Serena immediately took the lead by winning two points, 30-0. Sharapova’s shot found the nets and Serena’s lead extended to 40-0, three break points straight away for Serena! Good serve this time from Sharapova and Serena’s return hit the nets, 15-40. Two more break points. Another good serve by Sharapova and this time Serena’s return landed long, 30-40. Terrific ace from Sharapova, she has saved three break points, deuce, 40-40! Sharapova’s backhand hits the nets, advantage Serena. Good wide serve from Sharapova, deuce again, 40-40. Serena’s forehand finds the net this time, advantage Maria! Good serve from Sharapova and Serena’s return lands wide, game Sharapova. Excellent play this from Sharapova who won the game after she was down 0-40! Live updates from the French Open 2013 women’s singles final to be played between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. Sharapova might be the defending champion but her rivalry against Serena is known to all and she would have to play her heart out to stop Serena from winning here second French Open title. Sharapova defeated 3rd seed Victoria Azarenka in the semis. Sharapova defeated Sara Errani in straight sets- 6-3, 6-2 last year and she would be aware that with Serena at the other side of the net, this is going to be an extremely tough final. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Serena has been in some incredible form of late and it is surprising to know that her trophy case has just one French Open trophy which she won way back in 2002. Keeping her current form in mind, there is no reason why the American can’t win her second, this time against the defending champion Sharapova.