ANKARA
Serena Williams beat Lucie Safarova at French Open women's singles final on Saturday, winning the 20th grand slam of her career.
The world’s number one won 6-3, 6-7 and 6-2 at Roland Garros against the 28-year-old Czech ranked 13 at a thrilling game that lasted just over two hours.
This was the 33-yeard-old champion’s third victory in the French Open, and her third grand slam triumph in a row after winning last year’s U.S. Open and Australian Open in this January.
With Saturday’s victory, Williams becomes the third athlete -- male or female -- to succeed in winning 20 or more grand slams. This puts the American in prestigious company, with Australian Margaret Court winning 24 titles and German Steffi Graf with 22.
The French Open title means Williams is halfway to a calendar year grand slam, which she would achieve provided she wins at Wimbledon and U.S. Open later this year. Only three women’s singles players have been able to achieve the mark in tennis history.
