20th Grand Slam title lands in soaring Serena’s bag

World number one lifts third French Open trophy after comeback against Safarova

PARIS:

Serena Williams won her 20th Grand Slam title and third French Open crown at Roland Garros on Saturday, clawing her way back from a break down in the last set to defeat Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2.

In what was a disjointed affair, the 33-year-old American was coasting to a straight-sets win, a set and 4-1 up against the Czech 13th seed, playing in her first Grand Slam final at the age of 28.

But a combination of serving woes for Serena and some top play from Safarova forced a third set, the fifth of the tournament for the American.

She fell 0-2 down in that, but recovered her composure in the nick of time to rattle off six games in a row for the title.

With 20 Grand Slam titles, Serena is now second on the Open-era list, two shy of Steffi Graf. She is also now halfway to winning all four Grand Slam titles in the same year to complete the calendar Grand Slam, a feat previously achieved by just three other women, the last being Graf in 1988.

For Safarova, who reached the final without dropping a set, the consolation will be her debut in the world top 10, at number seven. And she has the women’s doubles final to follow on Sunday, playing with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

“She [Safarova] was a magnificent opponent for me,” said Serena. “She was very aggressive and I was a bit nervous at a set and a break up. It’s special for me because I don’t play well all the time here [in Paris], but I am so pleased to win my 20th Grand Slam here.”

Serena had struggled with a bout of the flu throughout the tournament’s second week, needing four times to fight back from a set down just to reach the final.

At 33 years and 254 days, Serena is just nine days younger than Martina Navratilova when she became the oldest Open-era Grand Slam winner at Wimbledon 1990.

She will now turn her focus to Wimbledon which starts in three weeks where a title win would give her all four Grand Slam crowns at the same time — a feat she previously achieved in 2003.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2015.

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