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In a classic contest between power and finesse, Maria Sharapova’s brute power and consistency overwhelmed a determined Simona Halep to help the Russian to her second French Open title. The intelligent Romanian did her best to challenge Sharapova, but the power and depth on the Russian’s ground strokes left little time or space for Halep to create anything of imagination. Halep did commendably well, launching a valiant effort to rein in her opponent but Sharapova prevailed 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 in a shade more than three hours.
Halep was playing the final for herself, but she had a struggling nation riding the boat of her dreams. Romania does not receive a lot of positive affection in France. There are plenty of Eurozone immigration issues in France with Romania at the centre of some very inconvenient discussions.
Ion Tiriac has known a thing or two about employment and income, having made billions in his post tennis business career. The burly 75 year old though was a front row spectator on Phillippe Chatrier for something even more fundamental. Tiriac and Virginia Ruzici had their eyes firmly on Halep, praying in their hearts perhaps for some pride and honour for one of their young compatriots.
Both of them were past champions in Paris – Ruzici won the singles title here in 1978 and Tiriac had won the doubles here playing with Ilie Nastase in 1970. Tiriac and Ruzici also combined to finish runners-up in the mixed doubles of 1979, but no player from their domicile offered the troubled country a scent of glory since then.
Ever since her return from surgery, Sharapova’s service motion has been suspect and she has been in some trouble this entire tournament managing her first serve. The 32nd double fault of her tournament took the first game to deuce.
The Russian made a couple of backhand errors to surrender an early break to her Romanian opponent. Halep was pushed to deuce too in her first service game, but showed enough composure to consolidate the break for a 2-0 lead.
The Romanian saved three break points in the fourth game, the third with a quality serve down the middle. But yet another forehand winner from the Russian earned her a fourth opportunity and this time, Simona drew her backhand wide to surrender the break.
The fifth game assumed significance – allowing Sharapova to regain control of the set and dampen her opponents dogged spirit. It was a game that stretched to deuce four times, before Sharapova held serve when Halep threw a backhand wide.
The Romanian had invested a lot of energy into the game, but an adamant Russian was across the net and she would not budge. It had to take a toll and it did. Halep gifted a pair of break points in the next game and Sharapova accepted with glee to win her fourth straight game.
Maria made it five in a row, when she held her own service in the next game. By now the crowd was firmly behind Simona, even her box outnumbered Sharapova’s – there were just three men in the Russian’s box. Simona’s corner had nearly a dozen people, all dressed in red tee shirts.
And it seemed that their collective will had an effect. Halep gained two break points in the ninth and Sharapova, clearly in control of the point, fired a forehand wide to lose the break while serving for the set at 5-3.
As the set progressed, Sharapova was hitting harder and deeper. The power on her strokes had started to trouble Halep, who was giving away too much to the Russian in terms of size and reach. And Maria attacked her with brutality to gain a set point.
Even though Halep saved the first with an angled forehand winner, Maria forced Halep on the defense again to earn another opportunity. There was no denying the Russian this time, as the fourth seed stretched and on the defensive, struggled to keep the point alive.
The Romanian was in some real grief when she was broken in the second game of the second set. Maria was in front and gaining momentum. Besides, Halep was perhaps also caught up with the hurt of losing a set for the first time this fortnight.
All was not lost though, as Maria had a loose game for the first time since the first set. A double fault helped Halep to 0-30 and a typically intelligent backhand crosscourt to wrong foot Maria were enough to restore the break. She held her serve in the fourth to remain even at 2-2.
In the eighth game, Halep faced break point. Sharapova had outhit her to force the error. The Romanian saved it with a forehand winner from midcourt. Another quickly followed, with the same result. Again a forehand winner came to the rescue of Halep. She held eventually to keep it with Maria at 4-4.
It was a battle between two hard willed women and the point at deuce was testimony to Halep’s willingness to take the battle to its extreme end. She recovered from being down behind the baseline, to somehow try and keep the point alive with a moon ball.
The long rally ended when Maria netted a forehand and Halep had a break point. The Romanian took it on the next point when Sharapova struck wide to take a 5-4 lead. Unfortunately opportunity melted as soon as it came for the Romanian, who surrendered the break in the next game.
Sharapova struck a powerful forehand, only for it to tap the net and limp into Halep’s side of the court. Harsh as it was, the set was back on serve at 5-5. The match was a roller coaster ride and it became tortuously so when Halep put away an easy winner to gain three break points in the eleventh.
A resolute Sharapova saved the first two, but strung a backhand wide to have Halep serve for the set. But it swung the other way, with Halep falling behind 0-40 in the twelfth. It was a tad too much even for her spirited effort and it fell to a tie-breaker to decide the outcome of the set.
Sharapova took a 4-2 lead in the breaker, but after changing sides, Halep worked herself back into it to get it back on serve at 4-5. The Romanian showed remarkable composure to hold both times and throw the gauntlet at Sharapova to defend the set at 5-6.
The third set started with an exchange of breaks as the match continued to swing one way, then the other. A lengthy fourth game, when Maria survived a break point and a tight game before shrieking loud enough for the heavens to be woken up.
Halep offered three break points, when she netted an easy forehand in the fifth game. She saved a couple but could not prevent the break, dropping a backhand in the net to surrender the break.
At 30-30 in the eighth, Maria failed to get her backhand across the net to offer break point to Halep and Chatrier broke out into a symphony for Simona. A double fault brought the set back on serve at 4-4.
But the match swung back to Maria immediately, when Halep struck a backhand into the net to offer three break points in game nine. Maria needed just the one, nailing it with a backhand cross court winner to serve for the match.
Sharapova earned three match points when Halep failed to control a backhand return. The crown was hers on the next point when she struck a brutal forehand to put her signature on the Suzanne Lenglen trophy, for a second time in her career. An elated Sharapova collapsed onto the court, before climbing up to her box to share the moment with her team.
Halep was distraught, yet gracious in defeat. But she has every reason to be proud of her performance. Simona pushed Maria to the limit and is making rapid strides, it cannot be long before we watch her lift one of these major trophies.
