Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova to win her 16th major title
PARIS—In tennis, 11 years is an eternity. The athletes get bigger and faster. The balls are hit harder. More and more attention is paid to training, diet and recovery. Equipment changes, tactics evolve, technique is refined. For one player to last that long in tennis is a feat.
Then there is Serena Williams, who won her second French Open title Saturday, 6-4, 6-4, over Maria Sharapova. Williams first reached the No. 1 ranking in July 2002. Nearly 11 years later, she's still there—and still better than everyone.
Since the introduction of tennis's computer-ranking system in 1975, no other world No. 1 has been older than the 31-year-old Williams, and no other No. 1 has had as many years between her first and latest visit to the top. Williams' play here these two weeks suggests she's going to stay there for a while more.
"For Serena, nothing is out of reach," said Patrick Mouratoglou, who began coaching Williams after she lost in the first round of last year's French Open. "If she really wants something, it's very difficult to stop her."
There is no better example than this year's French Open. Williams was a favorite to win here last year when she lost in the first round, something she had never done at a major tournament in her career. She was devastated and turned to Mouratoglou to help her prepare for Wimbledon. They've worked together ever since, but the French Open always stood out. Williams had only won it once, and she had always loved Paris, where she won her first tournament as a professional and now has an apartment.
"She really wanted it so much," Mouratoglou said. "She really worked for it."
Williams started fast in Saturday's final—she won the first three points against Sharapova's serve—but quickly faltered and fell behind 2-0. "I was so nervous today," she said. "I'm glad I got through that one, because I've played nervous before and I've lost a few times."
Sharapova was a point from taking a 3-0 lead when Williams amped up her service returns and took charge. She served better and better as the match went on and was nearly untouchable on her serve in the second set. She lost just three points on her serve in the set and delivered three aces in the final game of the match.
"At that point, I was just so nervous," Williams said. "I thought to myself, 'Look, Serena, you've just got to hit aces.'"
Williams now has 16 major titles, and she's one of four women in the Open era, which began in 1968, to win each of them at least twice, along with Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. She's the oldest woman in the Open era to win at Roland Garros. So far this year, Williams has won six titles, only two fewer than she won in 2002, her best year on the tour. She's on a 31-match winning streak. Since she lost at last year's French Open, Williams is 74-3.
"She's doing what she's always done extremely well, but she's just doing it on a much more consistent level," Sharapova said. "She's able to come in and produce it day in, day out."
So, is this Serena Williams the best Serena Williams, even better than the woman who won four straight major titles from 2002 to early 2003? "I definitely prefer Serena 2002, because she has her whole career ahead of her," Williams said. "This one still does too, but maybe not another 15 years."
But in terms of tennis, she said, there is no comparison. "I'm just playing better, I'm working harder, I'm doing more things, and I feel like I deserve to win," she said. "I don't even remember what kind of fitness, or what kind of eating, or what I was doing 11 years ago."
Mouratoglou didn't have to think about the question. "I don't remember," he said. "I was too young."
Yes, Williams has been great for that long—and there's more to come.
