The second Grand Slam event of the season was a triumph for European players, who walked away with all but one of the professional and junior titles on offer.
Sunday’s highly anticipated men’s final saw the top two players in the world renew their already legendary rivalry. Novak Djokovic was desperate to win the only Grand Slam title to elude him, while Rafael Nadal was equally keen to salvage what had been – at least by his exceptional standards - a disappointing clay court season so far, as well as to make amends for the crushing disappointment of his loss in the Australian Open final in January.
Early in the match, an upset seemed possible as Djokovic took a nine-game first set and looked ready to capitalise on his momentum. But Rafa eventually edged a particularly hard-fought second set and never looked back, running out a 3-6 7-5 6-2 6-4 win in three and a half hours of play in which both players had seemed to be affected by the hot conditions.
Nadal’s statistics continue to defy logic; the win is his fifth consecutive Roland Garros title and ninth overall. He becomes the first man to win a Grand Slam in ten successive years and edges closer to catching Roger Federer’s record tally of Grand Slam titles, levelling with Pete Sampras at 14. The win is his 45th career clay court title, and moves him one behind all-time leader Guillermo Vilas.
The women’s tournament saw a series of early shocks, with the top three seeds all having exited by the middle of the first week for the first time in the history of the event, each losing to a promising up and comer making their Slam breakthrough. Arguably the most impressive was Garbiñe Muguruza’s 6-2 6-2 second round demolition of defending champion Serena Williams, which the 19-year old Spaniard followed by reaching the quarterfinals before giving Maria Sharapova a three-set scare.
Indeed Sharapova was forced to three sets in each of her last four matches, but never more spectacularly so than against Simona Halep, who produced some inspired play in what was her first Grand Slam final. After conceding the first set 6-4 and an early break in the second, Halep enjoyed a golden half hour, eventually levelling after a tense tie break in which her Russian opponent gifted some uncharacteristic errors as the finish line loomed.
Sharapova later paid tribute to the Romanian, who will now rise to #3 in the world, saying that the match had been the toughest of the nine Grand Slam finals she had played. After sinking to her knees to kiss the court after match point, she expressed her delight and bewilderment that Roland Garros would turn out to be her most successful Slam at this point in her career, saying “If somebody had told me at some stage in my career that I'd have more Roland Garros titles than any other Grand Slam, I'd probably go get drunk.”
Doubles
Julien Benneteau & Edouard Roger-Vasselin thrilled a partisan home crowd by beating Marcel Granollers & Marc Lopez to take the men’s doubles title. Having beaten the Bryan brothers earlier in the week, the Spanish pair was heavily favoured to win their first Grand Slam title, having previously won the World Tour Finals in 2012, but went down in straight sets to the French pair to the delight of the Philippe Chatrier crowd.
The world’s top pair, Hseih Su-Wei and Peng Shuai, became the only non-European players to take home the Parisian silverware with a 6-4 6-1 win over 2012 champions Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci of Italy. The Taipei/Chinese pair cement their recently-attained #1 status, though the Italians may be able to reclaim the top spot with a good performance at Wimbledon next month.
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) and Jean-Julien Roger (NED) fought back from a set down to claim the mixed doubles title over Julia Goerges (GER) & Nenad Zimonjic (SRB). The win marked a first Grand Slam title for Rojer, while Groeneveld claimed the Wimbledon title in 2009 alongside Mark Knowles.
Juniors
The junior competitions saw the reigning European 16 & Under champions confirm their potential with a perfect transition to junior Grand Slam tennis. Darya Kasatkina fought back from a set down to oust top seed Ivana Jorovic of Serbia in what she said would be her final match as a junior.
Andrey Rublev has been busy of late, winning his first ITF Pro Circuit title the week prior to Roland Garros, and he continued his good form by reversing a loss to former Tennis Europe Junior Masters champion Jaume Munar Clar of Spain earlier this year. Both 17-year olds were appearing in their first Junior Slam finals, and Rublev achieves the notable feat of becoming the first Russian boy to win in Paris since 1966.
The girls doubles showed that the future for Romanian remains bright beyond the immediate success of Simona Halep as Ioana Ducu and Ioana Rosca edged past Catherine Cartan Bellis of the USA last year’s European 14 & Under silver medallist Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) in a 20-point champion’s tie break.
The boys doubles gave the home crowds something to cheer as Benjamin Bonzi and Quentin Halys teamed up to beat Lucas Miedler (AUT) & Akira Santillan (AUS) for the loss of just six games.
It will be interesting to analyse the significance of results at this year’s French Open throughout the rest of the year. Many talented players, including much-heralded names such as Taylor Townsend, Kristina Mladenovic and Ernests Gulbis, enjoyed potentially career changing performances, but as the Tour makes its annual sudden change to grass, maintaining that form is an extra challenge. At the top of the tree, and with comparatively few points to defend in the coming months, Sharapova now looks set to join Halep in pressuring Serena Williams for the top spot by the end of the year.
On the men’s side, Andy Murray’s return to the Paris semi-finals, and the recruitment of new coach Amelie Mauresmo will boost his confidence as he attempts to defend his Wimbledon title, while few would bet against a 43rd chapter in the story of Nadal vs. Djokovic being written in the coming weeks.
2014 Roland Garros Roll of Honour
Men’s Singles
(1) Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. (2) Novak Djokovic (SRB) 3-6 7-5 6-2 6-4
Men’s Doubles
(11) Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin (FRA) d. Granollers/Lopez (ESP) 6-3 7-6(1)
Women’s Singles
(7) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Simona Halep (ROU) 6-4 6-7(5) 6-4
Women’s Doubles
(2) Hseih (TPE)/Peng (CHN) d. Errani/Vinci (ITA) 6-4 6-1
Mixed Doubles
Groenefeld (GER)/Rojer (NED) d. Goerges (GER)/Zimonjic (SRB) 4-6 6-2 [10-7]
Boys’ Singles
(4) Andrey Rublev (RUS) d. (7) Jaume Antoni Munar Clar (ESP) 6-2 7-5
Boys Doubles
Bonzi/Halys (FRA) d. Miedler (AUT)/Santillan (AUS) 6-3 6-3
Girls’ Singles
(8) Darya Kasatkina (RUS) d. (1) Ivana Jorovic (SRB) 6-7(5) 6-2 6-3
Girls’ Doubles
Ducu/Rosca (ROU) d. Bellis (USA)/Vondrousova (CZE) 6-1 5-7 [11-9]
Men’s Wheelchair Singles
(1) Shingo Kuneida (JPN) d. (2) Stephane Houdet (FRA) 6-4 6-1
Women’s Wheelchair Singles
(1) Yui Kamiji (JPN) d. Aniek van Koot (NED) 7-6(7) 6-4
Men’s Wheelchair Doubles
(1) Gerard (BEL)/Houdet (FRA) d. Fernandez (ARG)/Peifer (FRA) 4-6 6-3 [11-9]
Women’s Wheelchair Doubles
(2) Kamiji (JPN)/Whiley (GBR) d. (1) Griffoen/Van Koot (NED) 7-6(3) 3-6 [10-8]