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Photos: Serena Williams' victory over Maria Sharapova in French Open final
Serena Williams is now just two major titles away from tying Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. (Getty Images)
Serena Williams defeated defending champion Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday to win the French Open.
It's been a long, dominant road back to Paris for Williams, who lost in the first round last year. Since then, she's won three of the last four Slams (and Olympic gold), taken over the No. 1 ranking (the oldest woman to do so) and compiled a 73-3 record.
Williams, who has won a career-high 31 consecutive matches, will go into Wimbledon as the overwhelming favorite to defend her title.
Here are some of our favorite photos from Serena's 16th major title. Watch your back, Roger Federer. She's coming for you.
WERTHEIM: Serena's personalities, legendary game produce French renaissance
Sharapova produced her best performance against Serena in years, but it wasn't enough to prevent her 13th consecutive loss to Williams. (Petr David Josek/AP)
Has there ever been a more athletically gifted woman to play the sport? Between her speed and power, she's virtually impossible to beat at her best. (Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images)
The Russian said she had to take advantage of her chances to stop Williams from steamrolling, and she made good on that, going 2-for-2 on break points. But her serve was no match for Serena's return, and it's the misses at 30-all that will haunt her. (Michel Euler/AP)
Though Sharapova mounted her charge, Williams stayed calm, controlled and focused throughout. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
"Gosh darn it all to heck!" (Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images)
Time to exorcise the demons. (Petr David Josek/AP)
Hands up, head bowed. (AP)
"Look ma! Trophy!" (Michel Euler/AP)
This is what happens when you put the two biggest names in the women's game on one stage. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
"Are you looking at my titles?" (Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images)
How big was this win? It brought these (formerly?) bitter rivals together. So, yeah, earth-shattering stuff. (Rindoff/Charriau/WireImages)
It took 11 years, but Serena finally got those French bookends she's always wanted. (AFP/Getty Images)
Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.