Maria Sharapova was crowned the new queen of Roland Garros after she kept her poise to outwit and outpower diminutive Italian Sara Errani 6-3, 6-2 to complete her collection of grand slam trophies Saturday. Despite the one-sided scoreline, Italian Errani troubled Sharapova with some cute volleys, sliced forehands, daring dropshots but found the Russian to be an insurmountable obstacle. With Errani standing at just 1.64 meters, the statuesque Russian used her 24 cms advantage and wider wingspan to great effect as she chased down everything the Italian could throw at her. She wrapped up victory when Errani ended a prolonged rally by dumping a backhand into the net, allowing Sharapova to become the 10th woman to complete a career grand slam after she added the Paris title to her triumphs at Wimbledon (2004), US Open (2006) and Australian Open (2008). The French Open win capped a remarkable comeback for Sharapova after many thought her career was all but over when she underwent shoulder surgery in 2008. Having waited four years to climb back into the grand slam winner's circle, it was little wonder the 25-year-old dropped to her knees and covered her face in disbelief in her moment of triumph. But this was no time for the queen of women's tennis, who will also climb back to the top of the rankings Monday, to hide her face. A beaming Sharapova, still on her knees, tilted her head skywards and lapped up the applause from the hollering fans with outstretched arms. Even when the on-court announcer accidentally asked the crowd to cheer for “runner-up Maria Sharapova”, the smile could not be wiped off her face. During the 89-minute contest though, there was only one winner. “It's a magnificent moment in my career. I'm really speechless. I have had such a journey to get to this stage,” Sharapova told the crowd as she showed off her multi-lingual skills by speaking in English, French, Spanish and Russian during her victory speech.Djokovic, Nadal seek history Novak Djokovic has won 27 matches in a row at Grand Slam tournaments. If he can make that 28 by beating Rafael Nadal in Sunday's French Open final, Djokovic will earn a fourth consecutive major title, something no man has accomplished since 1969. Tough to imagine someone so close to such a historic achievement being an underdog, yet that's exactly what Djokovic is. Even the 25-year-old Serb says so. “You can say that he's a favorite, definitely,” Djokovic conceded. Really? Even though Djokovic beat Nadal in each of the past three Grand Slam finals? Well, yes. Because as good as Djokovic is on all surfaces and in all settings at the moment, no one has ever been as good as Nadal is on the red clay of Roland Garros. Set aside that Nadal owns 10 Grand Slam titles overall, twice as many as Djokovic, and simply consider the 26-year-old Spaniard's superb French Open bona fides. While Djokovic hopes to complete a “Novak Slam” — only two other men in the century-plus annals of tennis ever have been the reigning champion at all four Grand Slam tournaments simultaneously — Nadal seeks his record seventh trophy at the French Open. Only Nadal and Bjorn Borg have won the title six times.
