2014 French Open – Women's singles
Maria Sharapova won her second French Open title and fifth major title overall by defeating first-time finalist Simona Halep 6–4, 6–7, 6–4, to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2014 French Open. In a match that lasted over three hours, it was the first time since 2001 that the final went to three sets. Halep became the first Romanian to reach the final since Virginia Ruzici in 1980. Serena Williams was the defending champion, but was defeated in the second round by Garbiñe Muguruza. The top three seeds (Williams, Li  Na and Agnieszka Radwańska) were in contention for the world No. 1 ranking at the start of the tournament. However, they all failed to reach the fourth round and so Williams retained the top spot in the end. As a result, this marked the first time in the Open Era the top three seeds failed to reach the fourth round of the French Open, and any major. Seeds. Serena Williams "(second round)" Final. Seventh-seeded Sharapova beat 18th-seeded Eugenie Bouchard 4–6, 7–5, 6–2 in the first semi-final, while fourth-seeded Simona Halep beat 28th-seeded Andrea Petkovic, 6–2 , 7–6 in the second. In the first set, Halep won the first two games before Sharapova won five consecutive games. Halep fought back and narrowed the margin to 5–4, before Sharapova broke Halep to win the set 6–4. The second set went to a tiebreaker where Sharapova jumped out to a 5–3 lead. However, Halep won the next four points to take the set 7–6. While leading 2–1 in the third set, Halep had break point but Sharapova recovered and won the game. She then broke Halep to take a 4–2 lead. Halep held, then broke back to level the  set at 4–4, but got broken again in the next game. Serving for the match, Sharapova held at love, taking the set 6–4. It was the first time since 2001 that the final went to 3 sets.