Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will face off in the final showdown – French Open 2013
In a blockbuster final between top two seeds, American icon Serena Williams will take on the Russian number one, Maria Sharapova, at the Roland Garros 2013 on Saturday.
The top seed, Williams, slaughtered last year’s runner-up, Sara Errani, in 46 minutes. She blasted 40 winners to jolt down a 6-0, 6-1 success against the Italian. The American went on a nine-game killing spree before Errani could
come on the score sheet. She then stroked out the proceeding three games and progressed into her 20th Grand Slam final. Williams smashed 40 winners and spilled only 12 unforced errors against the fifth seed.
The gorgeous Russian on the other hand rallied past the top-ranked Belarusian, Victoria Azarenka, in a three-set thriller to set-up this epic final. She lost her opening serve but went berserk, eventually pulling out the opener
with a breadstick.
The Russian lost her track in the second set as Azarenka equalised the set scores. However, she re-gained her strength again and clinched the decider with a 6-4 score line. Sharapova clobbered a lower first serve share of 62 per
cent but amazingly marked 41 out of 57 points on it. She hammered 42 winners but spilled 39 unforced errors.
Last year, Sharapova outclassed everyone to capture this prestigious clay court event. As a result, she became the sixth woman in Open Era to complete her Career Grand Slam event.
Both stars are facing each other for the 16th time with Williams dominating in the head-to-head series by 13-2 against the Russian. However, Sharapova is eyeing to turn this around. She reflected in an interview, "Well I'd be lying
if I said it didn't bother me. It wouldn't be a competitive statement if I said it didn't. I'd love to change it around. Again, I'm putting myself in a position to face her. Whatever I did in the past hasn't worked, so I'll have to try to do something different,
and hopefully it will work this time."
The 31-year-old reflected about winning 12 matches in a row against Sharapova, "Not really right now, because it's a different time, a different era - just a different match. It's a brand new match, so I don't take that into consideration.
I just have to do the best that I can."
This year both challengers battled each other three times with Williams prevailing in all three occasions. The American crippled Sharapova with a breadstick in one hour and 19 minutes at the Mutua Madrid Open last month. She lost
her serve once but cashed five out of eight break chances to record a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
The Russian star might be able to give tough time to Williams if she commits less unforced errors. The 15-time Grand Slam champion, Williams, on the other hand is bidding to capture her second title at Roland Garros. She is on
a 30-match winning streak, the longest winning streak of her career. With her current run of form, the American is expected to record a 7-6(3), 6-1 victory.
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