ROLAND GARROS – Maria Sharapova Wins

Written by: Staff on 9th June 2012

ROLAND GARROS - Maria Sharapova Wins

epa03256804 Maria Sharapova (C) of Russia celebrates with her team after winning the final match against Sara Errani of Italy for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 09 June 2012. EPA/SINDY THOMAS / POOL |

ROLAND GARROS

Paris, France

May 27-June 9, 2012

$11,315,740/Grand Slam

Red Clay/Outdoors

Results – Saturday, June 9, 2012

Singles – Final

(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. (21) Sara Errani (ITA) 63 62

Doubles – Final (played Friday)

(4) Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. (7) Kirilenko/Petrova (RUS/RUS) 46 64 62

Final Facts

– Sharapova wins the fourth Grand Slam title of her career and the first at Roland Garros; she has now completed the career Slam, having also won Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008.

– Sharapova’s win-loss record in Grand Slam finals now stands at 4-3; the three defeats came at the Australian Open (2007 and 2012) and Wimbledon (2011).

– Sharapova wins the 27th WTA title of her career; only three active players – Venus Williams (43), Serena Williams (41) and Kim Clijsters (41) – have won more tournaments.

– Sharapova’s win-loss record in finals now stands at 27-16; she extends her perfect record in clay court finals to 6-0.

– Sharapova improves her record on red clay this year to 16-0; five of her last six titles have come on the surface.

– Sharapova becomes the fifth new Roland Garros champion in the last five years.

– Errani falls to 5-4 in WTA finals, and 4-2 in clay court finals.

– Errani was competing in her first Grand Slam final; her previous best result was a quarterfinal run in this year’s Australian Open.

– Errani is the joint-lowest seed (2005 runner-up Mary Pierce was also No.21 seed) to reach the Roland Garros final in the Open Era.

– Sharapova will rise to No.1 in the rankings on Monday, while Errani is projected to make her Top 10 debut at No.10.

– Errani and Vinci win their first Grand Slam doubles title; they are now 1-1 in Grand Slam finals, having finished runners-up at this year’s Australian Open.

– Errani and Vinci win their 11th doubles title together and a WTA-leading sixth of the season; they both now have 14 WTA doubles titles to their names.

– Errani is the first player to appear in both the singles and doubles final at Roland Garros since Clijsters in 2003.

– Errani and Vinci are projected to rise to No.3 and No.4, respectively, in the rankings, while Kirilenko will move to No.7 and Petrova No.11.

Final Quotes

Maria Sharapova: “It’s the most incredible feeling. I don’t know what to say. I’m so happy. I’ve worked so hard for this. It took a lot to get to this stage and even more to win it. There are so many tough days where you feel like giving up, but you don’t. It’s been such a journey to get to this stage again. If this weren’t my fourth Grand Slam title, if this were my only one, it would be just as special as it would be to win my fourth.”

Sara Errani: “I was nervous in the beginning and I started badly. I played better the second set, but still it was difficult for me because she played very well. I had a good two weeks and it was incredible for me. In the future I just want to keep doing the same things that I was doing – just practice, and I try to improve every day.”

Topics: Maria Sharapova, Roland Garros 2012, Sara Errani, Sharapova, Sports, Tennis News, WTA tennis news