Maria Sharapova defeated Simona Halep in the final, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2014 French Open. It was her second French Open title and her fifth and last major title overall. In a final that lasted over three hours, it was the first time since 2001 that the final went to three sets.[1] Halep became the first Romanian to reach the final since Virginia Ruzici in 1980.
The top three seeds (Williams, Li Na and Agnieszka Radwańska) were in contention for the world No. 1 ranking. However, they all failed to reach the fourth round and so Williams retained the top spot. As a result, this marked the first time in the Open Era the top three seeds failed to reach the fourth round of a major.
Seventh-seeded Sharapova beat 18th-seeded Eugenie Bouchard 4–6, 7–5, 6–2 in the first semi-final, while fourth-seeded Simona Halep beat 28th-seeded Andrea Petkovic, 6–2, 7–6(7–4) in the second. In the first set, Halep won the first two games before Sharapova won five consecutive games.[1][3] Halep fought back and narrowed the margin to 5–4, before Sharapova broke Halep to win the set 6–4. The second set went to a tiebreaker where Sharapova jumped out to a 5–3 lead. However, Halep won the next four points to take the set 7–6(7–5). While leading 2–1 in the third set, Halep had break point but Sharapova recovered and won the game. She then broke Halep to take a 4–2 lead. Halep held, then broke back to level the set at 4–4, but got broken again in the next game. Serving for the match, Sharapova held at love, taking the set 6–4.[3] It was the first time since 2001 that the final went to 3 sets.[1]
Championship match statistics
Category
Sharapova
Halep
1st serve %
74/115 (64%)
72/112 (64%)
1st serve points won
45 of 74 = 61%
41 of 72 = 57%
2nd serve points won
16 of 41 = 39%
12 of 40 = 30%
Total service points won
61 of 115 = 53.04%
53 of 112 = 47.32%
Aces
3
1
Double faults
12
4
Winners
40
19
Unforced errors
56
37
Net points won
8 of 11 = 73%
6 of 10 = 60%
Break points converted
9 of 20 = 45%
7 of 13 = 54%
Return points won
59 of 112 = 53%
54 of 115 = 47%
Total points won
120
107
Source
References
^ abc"Maria Sharapova beats Simona Halep to win French Open". BBC Sport. June 7, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
^Naila-Jean Meyers (May 28, 2014). "A Lifelong Student of Williams Learns How to Defeat Her". The New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
^ ab"Maria Sharapova outlasts Simona Halep to win her second French Open title". Sports Illustrated. June 7, 2014. Archived from the original on June 9, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2014.