Serena Williams staved off Lucie Safarova’s upset bid to prevail 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 and won the French Open for the 20th Grand Slam title of her career.
“This is by far the most dramatic (major title I’ve won),” Williams told newsmen afterward. “I didn’t even train yesterday, I’ve had the flu … it’s just been a nightmare.”
With her third French Open trophy, she also becomes the first woman to win consecutive U.S. Open, Australian Open, and French Open titles since Monica Seles in 1991-92.
Williams led 4-1 in the second set but then her serve fell apart as Safarova rallied to force a decider.
“I choked, simple as that,” Williams said . “I hit a lot of double-faults, and my first serve just went off. … I got really nervous, it was a big moment to win 20.”
Williams double-faulted at the end of the sixth and eighth games of the second set to give Safarova hope. With the score 5-5, Williams broke Safarova and served for the match.
But the 13th-seeded Czech player broke straight back to force a tiebreaker, which Safarova dominated with powerful groundstrokes.
Safarova had her momentum going and led 2-0 in the final set before Williams began her comeback. Williams received an obscenity warning from the chair umpire after holding serve for a 3-2 lead in the third set.
After sealing the game with an ace, Williams yelled on centre court and received the warning moments later.
The top-ranked Williams took the last six games and added to her championships on the red clay of Roland Garros in 2002 and 2013.
She stretched her Grand Slam winning streak to 21 matches, following titles at the U.S. Open last September and Australian Open in January.
Only two women in the century-plus history of Grand Slam tennis have won more than the 33-year-old American: Margaret Smith Court with 24 titles, and Steffi Graf with 22.
This one, though, did not come easily for Williams, who double-faulted 11 times.
Williams received a kiss from 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova as she collected the French Open trophy, raising it triumphantly over her head as she milked the applause from the Court Chatrier crowd.
Williams, speaking in French, paid tribute to beaten finalist Safarova.
“Lucie played very well, she was a magnificent opponent,” Williams said. “It was a dream for me to win.”
Safarova returned the compliment in English:
“Serena, you were amazing today, you a great fighter. Congratulations,” she said.
