Maria Sharapova won her second French Open and fifth career major on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 win over Romania’s Simona Halep in the tournament’s second longest final.
At 3hr 02min, it was just two minutes shy of the 1996 final between Steffi Graf and Aranxta Sanchez.
Sharapova, the seventh seed, won her first Roland Garros title in 2012 and was runner-up last year to Serena Williams.
Halep, the fourth seed, was playing in her maiden final at a Grand Slam and was hoping to become the first Romanian champion since Virginia Ruzici, now her manager, in 1978.
Saturday’s win took Sharapova, 27, level with Martina Hingis as a five-time Grand Slam title champion.
Simona Halep evened up winning the second set 7-6 (5) after the Russian had won the first 6-4.