SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2015 SPORTS PARIS: Serena Williams of the US holds the Cup after defeating Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic during their final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium. (Inset) Lucie Safarova holds her tro- phy at the Roland Garros stadium.—AP Serena wins 20th Grand Slam PARIS: Serena Williams won her 20th Grand achieved by just three other women, the last “But when she won the serve on 2-1 (in the winner. Safarova top-edged two returns high she was undone again by some loose shot- Slam title and third French Open crown at being Graf in 1988. last set) she just stepped up her tennis again. up into the crowd as the American continued making and another double fault. Against all Roland Garros yesterday, clawing her way back For Safarova, who reached the final without She did some great shots to break me and to crank up the pressure, but the Czech player the odds and to general surprise, Safarova was from a break down in the last set to defeat dropping a set, the consolation will be her started to play really strong. She was just play- stayed in touch with a hold for 4-2. level at 4-4. Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2. In what was a debut in the world top 10, at number seven. ing better than me.” Williams let out two loud “c’mons” as she Williams served for the match at 6-5 after disjointed affair, the 33-year-old American was And she has the women’s doubles final to fol- Williams had struggled with a bout of the held serve for the fourth straight time to make another break, but Safarova produced her best coasting to a straight-sets win, a set and 4-1 low on Sunday, playing with American flu throughout the tournament’s second week, it 5-2 and two games later the first set was in tennis of the final to force the tie-break, which up against the Czech 13th seed, playing in her Bethanie Mattek-Sands. needing four times to fight back from a set the bag in just 31 minutes. Safarova had failed she won easily. first Grand Slam final at the age of 28. “I played very well and she was a magnifi- down just to reach the final. to muster a single break point. Safarova moved 2-0 up in the third before But a combination of serving woes for cent opponent for me,” Williams said. “She was But after two days of “rest and therapy” in Williams had never failed to win a Grand Williams resurfaced, taking six games in a row Williams and some top play from Safarova very aggressive and I was a bit nervous at a set her Paris apartment she came out looking Slam title on the 17 occasions she had taken for the win. At 33 years and 254 days Williams forced a third set, the fifth of the tournament and a break up. “It’s special for me because I somewhat refreshed if more subdued than the first set, and she honed in on another is just nine days younger than was Martina for the American. don’t play well all the time here (in Paris), but I usual as she stared fixedly at the ground straight sets win by breaking serve to open Navratilova, who became the oldest Open-era She fell 0-2 down in that, but recovered her am so pleased to win my 20th Grand Slam between points. the second and then holding to love. Safarova Grand Slam winner at Wimbledon 1990. composure in the nick of time to rattle off six here.” She played well within herself on serve, tak- had a mountain to climb as the crowd tried to She will now switch her focus onto games in a row for the title. With 20 Grand Safarova said she was proud of the way she ing pace off her first ball and then allowing rally her, but another service loss saw her fall Wimbledon which starts in three weeks where Slam titles Williams is now second on the had fought back in the second set after it Safarova an easy hold to level. But the 4-1 behind. a title win would give her all four Grand Slam Open-era list, two shy of Steffi Graf. She is also seemed she was heading for a heavy defeat. American upped the pace suddenly in the Out of the blue though Williams, suddenly crowns at the same time-a feat she previously now halfway to winning all four Grand Slam “Serena was really strong out there. I just fourth game, clinching the first break of the flung the Brno-born player a lifeline, double- achieved when she won the 2003 Australian titles, in the same year, a feat previously pushed myself to step up the level,” she said. match with a scorching forehand crosscourt faulting twice to drop serve. Two games later Open.—AFP Djokovic Preview downs ‘Machine’ Djokovic Murray on brink of history PARIS: Novak Djokovic can become the eighth man whatever I have left in me I will put out on the court PARIS: World number one Novak Djokovic to claim a career Grand Slam in the French Open tomorrow, and hopefully it can be enough.” rediscovered a ruthless streak when it mat- final today when he takes on Stan Wawrinka who Djokovic and Wawrinka have met six times on tered most to stay on course for a career hailed the world number one as a “machine”. clay and the Swiss has won just one of those-in slam with a nail-biting 6-3 6-3 5-7 5-7 6-1 Djokovic takes a 17-3 career lead into his clash Umag in the pair’s first clash way back in 2006 and win over Andy Murray to reach the French against Wawrinka whose win over the Serb in the even that was through a retirement. Open final yesterday. 2014 Australian Open quarter-finals put him on the Djokovic also came out on top in their most The Serb, looking to win the only major way to his first, and so far only, major title. It also recent battle, a five-set marathon in the Australian missing from his collection, was leading 6-3 snapped an eight-year losing streak against the Open semi-finals in January where the world num- 6-3 5-7 3-3 when play was interrupted by eight-time Grand Slam trophy winner. ber one clinched the deciding set 6-0. rain and dusk after the British third seed had Djokovic will be playing in his third French Open clawed his way back into contention on final having lost the 2012 and 2014 championship TOUGH RIVAL Friday. matches to nine-time Paris champion Rafael Nadal. “It’s another tough rival. This is a Grand Slam final, Murray returned to court and carried on But having handed Nadal just his second ever first at Roland Garros for him, third one for me. It’s where he left off, breaking in the 11th game loss at Roland Garros in the quarter-finals and then the dream of every player,” added Djokovic yester- of the fourth set to send the contest into a seeing off world number three Andy Murray in five day. “For this kind of challenge and match we have decider. Djokovic, however, was up to the sets in a semi-final stretched over two days, the 28- been working the entire year to perfect our game task and broke twice to secure a place in the year-old is primed for history. Only Fred Perry, Don and reach the level we want.” But Wawrinka, who put final with an ace. Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger out Federer in the quarter-finals in Paris, insists his Djokovic, who has a 16-0 record on clay Federer and Nadal have won all four majors. poor record will not be a factor today as he tries to this season, will play Swiss Stan Wawrinka But Djokovic also has even greater objectives in escape the ‘one Slam wonder’ club. today in his third Roland Garros final in four sight-victory over Wawrinka would put him halfway “He’s a machine,” said the 30-year-old of Djokovic. years. to a calendar Grand Slam, a challenge so daunting “But again, he has never won the French Open. “It was a very difficult match, I started that only Budge (1938) and Laver (1962 and 1969) Maybe he’s gonna play his best tennis and beat me very well with the right intensity, I was solid have managed to pull it off. straight sets,” he said. and aggressive but then Andy found his “It is obviously very encouraging knowing that I “But I shouldn’t forget that my game can bother confidence back,” Djokovic, hoping to have won all of the big events from last October, and the top players and when I am in form I can seize the become the eighth man to gain all four playing some of my best tennis,” said Djokovic, who opportunity to defeat them all.” grand slams, said on a sun-kissed court has lost just twice in 41 matches in 2015, is on a 28- It’s been a long road to the business end of the Philippe Chatrier. win streak and has already claimed a fifth Australian majors for world number nine Wawrinka.