SPORTS \\ ‘King of clay’ Rafael Nadal and ‘comeback queen’ Maria Sharapova were crowned the French Open Champions in June. This is Rafael Nadal's seventh French Open title as he defeated the World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in a match that lasted for 50 minutes. Maria Sharapova who was sidelined in 2008 after an injury to her right shoulder beat surprise finalist Sara Errani of Italy 6-3, 6-2, to win her first French Open and become the tenth woman with a career Grand Slam. Nadal overpowered his opponent with his terrific groundstrokes. Djokovic who fought bravely lost his serve twice in the nine games played, while Nadal gave away only three points of his own delivery. There was a brief shower which threatened to drive players off the court during the fourth set, when the score was standing As Nadal went on a rampage and kept getting closer to the title as the crowd cheered the opponent, with the hope that they might be able to enjoy the fifth set showdown. Djokovic responded to the cheering crowd by playing more and more aggressively, trying to dictate points with his forehand, but he could not stop Nadal from bringing up the match point and finally winning the title. Nadal has won seven out of his eight French Open Championships, losing only one time to Robin Soderling. The Spanish Matador came back with vengeance in 2010, defeating Soderling 6–4, 6–2, 6–4 to win the French Open. His 2012 victory at Roland Garros marked the second time (2008) that Nadal had won the French Open without dropping a single set. The 25-year-old Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova’s future suddenly came in doubt after the shoulder surgery which kept her out of the courtyards for a long time. Sharapova won her first Grand Slam—The Wimbledon—at the age of 17. At the age of 18 she became the world No.1, when she turned 19 she won the US Open Championship and at 20 she was the Australian Open Champion. But after the 2008 injury her rank fell to 126. She did not play any matches from August 2008 till May 2009. In the little French that she had learnt in three months while she was away from her practice, Sharapova said, “It is a wonderful moment in my career.” She then switched to English and said, “I am speechless. It has been such a journey for me to get to this stage.” With a rebuilt shoulder she whipped big serves. Sharapova’s forehands and backhands fell right on line. Moving beautifully on the red surface she beat her Italian opponent and won her first French Open Title ever. The Russian star is a contender to carry the Russian Flag at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games.