Serena Williams spent the French Open fortnight showing off her French. Now she can parler francais while holding the French Open trophy.
Top-seeded Williams beat No. 2 Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4 to secure her second French Open title, 11 years to the day after she beat her older sister Venus to win her first in 2002.
A year after crashing out of the French Open's opening round for the first time in her career, Williams returned to play one of her best wire-to-wire tournaments.
She dropped just 29 games, matching her best Grand Slam effort (she also dropped 29 games on her way to the 2002 U.S. Open title).
With 16 Grand Slam titles, the 31-year-old American trails Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova by two majors for sixth place all time.
Defending champion Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Madrid Open Sunday to retain her No. 1 ranking and collect her 50th career title. With the top ranking at stake, Williams stormed out to an early lead as Sharapova struggled with her serve.
The second-ranked Russian briefly recovered her poise in the second set, but Williams' form never wavered as she eased to the title.
''I'm very happy, many thanks,'' Williams told the Caja Magica crowd in Spanish before being hoisted aloft by the ball boys to celebrate the trophy.
Williams improved her record against Sharapova to 13-2, with both losses coming in 2004.
It was Sharapova's first loss in a red clay final after winning seven in a row.
