The 114th edition of the French Open came and went in a beautiful daze, the second Grand Slam event of the year took place at the Stade Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal as the five-time defending champion in the Men’s Singles, lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. Stan Wawrinka won his first French Open title, defeating Djokovic in the final, Maria Sharapova was defending the Women’s Singles title, but lost to Lucie Safarova in the fourth round. Serena Williams won her third French Open title, 20th Grand Slam Singles title, and third Career Grand Slam defeating Safarova in the final.
Djokovic was the strong favourite to clinch his first title at Roland Garros and complete a career Grand Slam but Wawrinka outplayed the world No1 to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, It means a second grand slam success for the Swiss, who won last year’s Australian Open. He, along with Juan Martín del Potro and Marin Cilic, is one of only three players since the 2005 Australian Open to break the major stranglehold of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.
Serena Williams continues to be the overwhelming favorite in every single match she plays, Serena is an astonishing 32-1 in 2015. That record includes her 19th Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in January, and now her 20th, won Saturday at the French Open with her triumph over Safarova, Williams joins just two other players who have won more than 20 Grand Slam titles by the name of Steffi Graf, with a total of 22 Grand Slam titles attributed to the German, the 22 mark has been regarded as the standard not only for women’s tennis but for the entire tennis sport, and Margaret Smith Court with 24 titles to her name. Another French Open title for Serena and she will hit the what is referred to as the Grand Slam of career Grand Slams, winning every major event at least four times despite clay being regarded as Williams weakest surface, she has brought a 69-4 run since 2011 when she turned a notable 30-years-old.
Winning the Grand Slam is, in a word, preposterous, a terminally underrated feat. There’s a reason why it’s been more than a decade—almost a quarter century for the men—since a player even got halfway there. We’re talking about winning on four surfaces on three continents over the course of nine months. Novak Djokovic simply dominated the first five months of the season. He beat Nadal in Paris, the Ultimate Tennis Takedown. He ran into a hot opponent. And—pow!—his Grand Slam campaign was thwarted after one leg.
