Three times Djokovic has been to the French Open finals and twice he's been turned back by future Hall-of-Famer Rafael Nadal. This year, Djokovic came into Roland Garros with his game looking as hot as ever—even beating a weakened Nadal in straight sets in the quarterfinals. With Stan Wawrinka awaiting in the finals, it finally looked like Djokovic would complete his long-awaited career Grand Slam and further his bid for a calendar year Grand Slam. Unfortunately for Novak, Stan played aggressive, lights-out tennis (including an insane, around-the-net winner) to topple the world number one in four sets.
Keeping Hope Alive
Serena Williams' final match was a microcosm of her entire Roland Garros campaign; it wasn't always pretty and the tennis was more about guts and willpower than shot-making, but in the end Serena was able to continue doing what she does best. It took three sets for Williams to beat a surging Lucie Safarova, but ultimately Williams grabbed her third French Open title and her twentieth Grand Slam title overall. She sits two titles behind Steffi Graf's Open Era record of twenty-two and she kept her shot at a calendar year Grand Slam alive.
SW
In a mostly meaningless, but fairly unique turn of events, the men's and women's singles champions at a Grand Slam shared the same initials. The last time that happened was way back in 1965 when Margaret Smith (who later became Margaret Court) and Manuel Santana won the US National Championships (which later became the US Open).
All-American Boys
For the first time ever, two Americans contested the boy's final, with Tommy Paul topping Taylor Fritz to become the third American boy to hoist the junior French Open trophy. The other two were John McEnroe and Bjorn Fratangelo.
The Rest of the Wrap
- Mike and Bob Bryan were beaten in the final by Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo, who captured their first Slam. The Bryans are still atop the game, but they've now only managed one title in the last seven Slams
- Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mike Bryan won the mixed doubles title.
- Mattek-Sands also teamed up with Lucie Safarova to win the women's doubles title—a nice consolation prize for Safarova after falling in the women's singles final.
- The boy's singles champion was American Tommy Paul, who beat fellow American Taylor Fritz.
- The girl's singles champion was Spaniard Paula Badosa Gibert, who beat Russian Anna Kalinskaya.
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