5. June 6: In their semifinal matches at the French Open in Paris, Maria Sharapova beat Victoria Azarenka, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, and Serena
Williams defeated Sara Errani, 6-0, 6-1. They will meet Saturday in the final.
6. Sharapova does likewise and it pays of for her as she goes 2-0 up after saving three break points in the first game
7. June 6: In their semifinal matches at the French Open in Paris, Maria Sharapova beat Victoria Azarenka, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, and Serena Williams defeated
Sara Errani, 6-0, 6-1. They will meet Saturday in the final.
8. But Williams stayed calm and powered her way back into the match to take the first set 6-4
9. Sharapova began to feel the pressure and, despite her good start, never really looked like she would defend her crown
10. In the final game, two aces made it 30-15 for Williams and a beautiful backhand into the corner brought her to match point. Her 10th ace of
the match sealed victory
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16. Williams celebrates her victory over her Russian opponent – it was her 13th straight win over Sharapova in nine years
30. The two competitors, David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal, pose ahead of the final. Nadal has only ever lost one match at Roland Garros and is the
overwhelming favourite against his fellow Spaniard. Ferrer is the world No5 but this is his first grand slam final
33. But Ferrer hits back in the very next game as Nadal crashes a shot into the net on break point
34. Now there's an awesome sight; Nadal in full flow. He cleans up the first set, 6-3
35. Ferrer is being given the run around in the second set. He's already 3-0 down and it looks like only the prospect of a rain break could halt
Nadal's momentum
36. He's already 3-0 down and it looks like only the prospect of a rain break could halt Nadal's momentum
44. Nadal wobbles briefly as Ferrer breaks back to 5-2. But the challenger is crushed in ruthless fashion in the next game as Nadal claims the
second set 6-2
53. The third and, seemingly, final set, is not quite
as routine as it could be. Nadal breaks early but
again is troubled enough by Ferrer that he soon
drops his own service game. It's 3-3 this set ...
54. Ferrer disastrously double faults in
game eight to hand Nadal a critical
break of serve - now the King of Clay
only needs to hold serve to claim the
title
