French Open 2013: Women's singles final preview - Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova

Considering the head-to-head record between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, Maria’s fans would have to think very hard to identify what exactly the Russian can do to turn the tables around.

Williams holds a record of 13-2 against Sharapova. To put this stat into even sharper perspective, Sharapova has faced 12 straight losses against Williams.

Williams has defeated Sharapova three times this year at Doha, Miami and Madrid.

Sharapova last defeated Williams in the 2004 year-end championships, just months after doing the same in the final of the 2004 Wimbledon tournament, which was her first Grand Slam title. She has frequently talked about her frustration with respect to the devastating record that Williams holds against her.

Sharapova says,

“I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t bother me, I don’t think that it would be a pretty competitive statement if I said it didn’t. I would love to change that around. Obviously whatever I did in the past hasn’t worked, so I’ll have to try to do something different. I’m proud of the way that I came through this tournament. I have given myself a chance to face the favourite.”

Serena, with her 2013 Roland Garros record, makes the defending champion’s situation all the more difficult; in her last match she came away with an astonishing 6-0, 6-1 win against Sara Errani, which was her 30th successive win in 2013 .

While Sharapova is on the quest of becoming the first woman to retain the French Open title since 2007, Serena is determined to revive her record on clay as she has not won the French Open singles title since 2002.

The spectators’ expectations of some astounding tennis action from both the players will actually depend on Sharapova’s mental strength. Her confidence level will decide if she will retain her title or let Serena win her first French Open title in over a decade.

Looking at the overall records, Serena has won 15 Grand Slam singles titles so far, whereas Sharapova just has four titles to her name!

It might have been more than a decade that we saw some dominance on clay by Williams, but her record at the French Open this year swings the odds in her favour. Her spectacular 46-minute win against Sara Errani left tennis fans spellbound!

Sharapova might not have been at her best in her semifinal match against Azarenka with 11 double faults, but her 12 aces worked in her favour.

If Williams continues with then same form, and if Sharapova continues struggling with her poor second serves, we could be in for a completely one-sided encounter.

Sharapova might not be even focusing on winning the match, but might have set her eyes on just winning a set against the American! She needs to get her first serves in and improve upon her second serves to keep Serena from attacking.

In their last encounter at the Madrid Open, Serena took full advantage of Maria’s serving blunders to win with the score of 6-1, 6-4. Sharapova had five double faults in her initial three service games.

Williams would be craving to continue with her form for one more match. Since her last win at Roland Garros in 2002, she has had surprising exits in the initial rounds of the Slam, but that has not eschew her determination this time as she has lost only one set in this year’s tournament, against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Sharapova needs to counter attack with strong service returns to at least stand a chance of making the final competitive, as Williams’s serves exceeded the 120 mph mark in Thursday’s match against Errani. If she fails to improve upon her second serves, and reduce the number of double faults, she will fail to put pressure on Williams, which will simply energize Williams’s return.

Williams managed 40 winners in her short match against Errani, something that will certainly dent the defending champion’s confidence.

If Sharapova was lucky enough to face another player in the finals, she would have undoubtedly been the unanimous favourite for the French crowd.

While Serena will be taking advantage of the Russian’s service issues, Sharapova needs to gear up for Serena’s powerful serves.

It does go without saying that Serena has an upper hand going into the match, but it will incredibly interesting to watch the tactics Sharapova comes up with to face the American.