Russian star claims her second clay Major.
Maria Sharapova has won her fifth Grand Slam singles title by beating fourth seed Simona Halep in a thrilling French Open final.
The 27-year-old retained the trophy that she first won in 2012 by defeating the diminutive Romanian 6-4 6-7 6-4.
After sealing the opening set in 57 minutes, thanks to three breaks of serve, Sharapova raced into a 2-0 lead in the second.
However, Halep, 22, fought back. She twice had the opportunity to serve for the set, but was broken on each occasion, as Sharapova forced a tie-break.
Sharapova led 5-3 in the breaker, but Halep reeled off four straight points to take it 7-5.
Halep twice broke back after losing service games in the deciding set, but Sharapova got another break in game nine, before serving out to end the epic contest after three hours and two minutes.
In total, Sharapova hit 46 winners and 52 unforced errors, as well as 12 double faults.
Halep struck 20 winners and produced 31 unforced errors.
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