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Saturday, May 18th

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Two weeks after winning the girl's singles title at the French Open, the next career highlight is now awaiting youngster Annika Beck: the 18-year-old member of the Porsche Talent Team Germany has qualified for the main draw of the All England Championships in Wimbledon which begins on Monday.

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nadal_champIt took him two days to do it, but Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal confirmed his legendary status at the exceptionally young age of 26 by winning his 11th Grand Slam singles title and his 7th French Open crown defeating world no.1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in a rain interrupted final. Nadal's 7 triumphs at Roland Garros in only 8 visits is already an open era record, beating the 6 wins that the equally legendary Bjorn Borg scored in the 1970s and early 80s. Nadal is now tied third with Borg in the all time Grand Slam winners list behind contemporary greats Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, both of whom you would expect Rafa to catch and overtake over the years to come. For Novak Djokovic, who was on a roll last night when play was called off, it was a disappointing outcome as his search for the 'Novak Slam' ended just short, but the Serbian champion showed that he has more than enough ability on this surface to come back and challenge for honours in the future.

Here is how play unfolded today...

After battling it out on court for over 3 hours amidst two rain delays, unable to find a winner, the immovable object Rafael Nadal and the unstoppable force that is Novak Djokovic resumed battle on what really had the feel of a People's Monday at Roland Garros.

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What a triumph for Annika Beck: the player belonging to the Porsche Talent Team Germany won the girls' singles title at the French Open in Paris on Sunday to celebrate the biggest success of her still young career. Playing in the final of the Grand Slam tournament, the 18-year-old defeated Slovakian Anna Schmiedlova in three hard-fought sets 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

The final on the clay at Roland Garros hung in the balance and was exciting from the very first serve right up to match point. After starting her first Grand Slam final in convincing fashion, the German suddenly showed nerves despite being ahead. She dropped serve three times in a row to hand her opponent the first set. In the second, the German led 3-0 and 4-1 before she once again lost her way to be pegged back to 5-5. But then in the critical stage of the match, she showed nerves of steel to win her serve and then break her opponent's to close out the set 7-5. Her nervousness was now a thing of the past. In the third, Annika Beck again found the convincing form she had displayed throughout the tournament to win the set and the title despite two losses of serve.

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djokovic_8The much anticipated French Open Men's final was tantalisingly poised before being suspended for the day due to continual rain. The players left the court with·Rafa leading two sets to one, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6,1-2, but Djokovic is a break ahead at 2-1 in the fourth. Nadal took what appeared to be an insurmountable 2 sets to love lead and was even up a break in the third, but Djokovic reeled off 8 games in a row to turn things around before rain stopped his momentum by forcing the players off court. The match will resume at 1300 local time (1630 IST) on Monday. The match had been suspended earlier as well as rain played havoc with the entire contest.

Earlier, despite blustery conditions and a cold day that aren’t suitable to generate a spark, Nadal began like a house on fire. He was intense, ripping the forehand up the line which is always a dangerous omen for Rafa’s opponents, and serving superbly too. The Spaniard had been dismissing opponents coming into the final and he began by treating Novak in much the same way. Nadal broke Djokovic immediately not just once but twice and his serving that was untouchable all fortnight, continued in that vein and he lead 3-0 in just 13 minutes.

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Canada's Daniel Nestor and partner Max Mirnyi of Belarus captured the 2012 French Open Men's Doubles championship on Saturday after a 6-4, 6-4 win over Americans Bob and Mike Bryan. The title is the duo's second consecutive French Open win as a pair and the third straight for Nestor who also took home the trophy in 2010 with Nenad Zimonjic.

The No. 1 seeds, Nestor and Mirnyi got an early break in the first set and, despite facing some challenges from the No. 2 seeded American pair, managed to hold up their end to maintain the lead. The second set was another extremely tight affair as each of the first six games reached at least one deuce. However, Nestor and Mirnyi broke the Bryans in the third game and it was once again all they needed to hold on and win the championship.

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maria_sharapova_7It’s been a long time coming, but eight years after her first slam, Maria Sharapova sank to her knees buried her face in her hands before raising her eyes to the sky as she captured her first French Open crown. It was a consummate performance by Sharapova as she outplayed Sara Errani 6-3, 6-2 before jumping for joy in sheer delight before going over to her box to celebrate with her team. It was a match that belied the scoreline, as Sharapova despite the blitz of a start had to quell a serious challenge by her unfancied opponent before emerging triumphant in contest that lasted just a minute short of an hour and a half. Sharapova now joins a select group that includes such illustrious performers as Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King who have completed the career grand slam in the Open Era.

It was perhaps fitting that as great a champion as Monica Seles gave away the trophies today. Maria accepted hers and gleefully displayed the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, before enjoying a quiet moment of pleasure as the Russian national anthem rang around the stadium. Maria was gracious in victory and congratulated Errani hoping that they played more often together. She then endeared herself to the crowd by thanking them in French before giving special thanks to her team for getting her to this triumph.

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rafael_nadal1The world no.2 and six-time champion Rafael Nadal thrashed his 6th seeded compatriot David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in an overwhelming display of raw aggression to progress to his 7th French Open final. The 30-year old Spaniard, Ferrer, came into this match in imperious form, having lost only a single set so far in this tournament and finally looked ready to give Nadal a run for his money. However, the world no.2 had other ideas as he made Ferrer look like a random practice partner, breaking his serve at will while sending out a clear and foreboding message to the two remaining semi-finalists. 

David Ferrer made a bright start to the match, winning his opening couple of service games with consummate ease, while also putting Rafa under a bit of pressure. Nadal struggled to a 7-minute hold in his first service game, before having to save two break points in the next one. However, in that very game when he was required to dig deep, Nadal showed that he had a few extra gears up his sleeve while Ferrer was already giving every point his all.

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