20th SLAM FOR SERENA WILLIAMS AS NOVAK DJOKOVIC BEATS ANDY MURRAY AT THE 2015 FRENCH OPEN IN PARIS

20th Slam for Williams as Djokovic gets closer to elusive title by Global Chick

 

Where to start on the penultimate day at Paris? At least the good people at Roland Garros had the sense to ensure that anyone who had tickets for last night’s thriller were allowed to come and watch the continuation of the semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

 

The Brit had to get off to a quick start if he wanted to keep his hopes alive, and he took first blood with a serve from an uncharacteristic lapse early on from a narked looking Djokovic, while somewhere on an adjacent court a smiling Stan Wawrinka was chuckling to himself while having a light hit!

 

Then again Djokovic is not the World No. 1 for a reason, and the force (well ok, the momentum!) was with him at the start of the decider as he quickly built up a 3-0 lead causing fans a plenty to wring their hands in unproductive dismay as the spectre of another bagel fifth set loomed large.

 

Murray looked as though he could at least keep the deficit to a single break but with the end in sight and obviously no desire to be out there for any longer than was absolutely necessary he pushed on, denying him anything more than a solitary game. OK so it was better than the Australian Open and Miami, but let’s face it that will be cold comfort for the Brit.

 

So, onto the main show. Would Lucie Safarova be able to stay with Serena Williams in the singles final? As has been discussed to death, Williams had struggled with the flu during her semi-final, and with the benefit of a couple of days rest with no training.

 

Williams is blessed with an effortless serve. Even when the woman is all but incapable of movement, that serve can get her out of all sorts of bother. At times like this it is all about the margins. A break in the first set was enough to keep Safarova at bay, and let’s all be honest, when she broke the Czech in the first game of the second set and again a few games later, it did not bode well for anything other than an early trip to the local hostelry for some baked camembert and crudités.

 

Then came the plague of the double faults – not quite biblical but I bet there were a few prayers being offered as first a brace of double faults offered one back, and then a double-fault did for the second, as Safarova levelled.

 

Williams let rip with some earthy Anglo-Saxon, with the pair trading breaks once more to force a tie-break, with Safarova building up an early 3-0 lead, and needing just the one set point to force a decider.

 

Safarova kept that momentum to break at the start of the third set but even the champion Williams found a way, breaking Safarova three times on the run, clinching her third French Open title, and 20th Grand Slam title, 6-3 6-7(2), 6-2.

 

The Czech was so gracious in her speech for her first Grand Slam final, and has another shot at silverware when she and fellow Australian Open doubles champion contest their second women’s doubles Slam final in a row.

 

But the moment belonged to Williams. She had fought back from a set down three times in a row, and was taken to three sets in the semi-final and the final. There is no doubt in our mind that she earned this title.

 

There is just one more big match to go, to bring the curtain down on a great two weeks – Cry havoc, and release the baguettes of war.

 

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, French Open, global chick, Lucie Safarova, Novak Djokovic, Paris, RG15, Roland Garros, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis News, Wta

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