Fitzgerald Cecilio

Paris, France

World No. 1 Serena Williams asserted her mastery over Maria Sharapova, beating the No. 2 seed, 6-4, 6-4, to win her second French Open title after 11 years and a 16th Grand Slam trophy.

With the victory, Williams improved to 14-2 against Sharapova and moved within two of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova's record of 18 Grand Slam trophies.

The victory also completed Williams' recovery from a first-round loss to 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano at Roland Garros last year.

After that loss, Williams went 74-3 and picked up titles at Wimbledon, U.S. Open, WTA Championships and a gold medal at the London Olympics.

The 31-year-old Williams became the oldest woman to win a major title since Navratilova won Wimbledon at age 33.

"First I'd like to thank my God, Jehovah. And congratulations to you, Maria - you played really, really well today, you were magnificent and such a great champion," said Williams, who now owns the biggest gap between winning the same Grand Slam in the Open Era.

"Actually 11 years ago I didn't even think I'd still be playing. I never thought I would play past 28, or something like that. But I'm still here. And this one was so good. It's the only one I hadn't won more than one of," she added.

Sharapova took advance of a poor start by Williams, taking a 2-0 lead before the world No. 1 regained her deadly form and closed out the first set, 6-4.

In the second set, Williams broke Sharapova in the third game and didn't look back, finishing the match with an ace.

"I'm disappointed to lose, but I ran into a really tough champion today. I gave it all I had. I had to. But it wasn't enough. Serena's been playing incredible tennis this year and the last year as well, and we all saw that level today," Sharapova said.

Meanwhile, top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan edged home favorites Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) in the doubles final to clinch their 14th major team title.

Serena Williams Asserts Mastery over Sharapova to Win French Open