Paris - Arab Today
Saturday's French Open women's final pointers
Final
Serena Williams (USA x1) v Lucie Safarova (CZE x13)
If she wins WILLIAMS will:
- record her 20th Grand Slam victory and third at Roland Garros. The Open-era record since 1968 is 22 held by Steffi Graf and the all-time record is 24 held by Margaret Court.
- stand halfway to the calendar-year Grand Slam, having won the Australian Open in January. Only three other women have won all four Grand Slam titles in the same year - Maureen Connolly 1953), Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988)
- extend her margin as the oldest woman to have won the French Open title in the Open-era. She already set that two years ago when she won at 31.
- make it three Grand Slam wins in a row, having won he US Open to close last year. The last player to pull off that treble was Monica Seles in 1991-92
If she wins SAFAROVA will:
- win her first Grand Slam title in her first final at the age of 28. This is the 40th time she has played in a Grand Slam tournament.
- be the first Czech woman to win the women's titles at Roland Garros since Hana Mandlikova in 1991. Compatriot Petra Kvitova won Wimbledon last year.
- be the lowest ranking seed at 13 to win the French Open title since Francesca Schiavone, who was ranked 17th when she won in 2010.
- be the 11th left-hander to win the women's singles at Roland Garros, the last being Monica Seles in 1992.
Source: AFP