French Open 2013 Scores: Major Takeaways and Updates from Day 14's Finals Action

The 2013 French Open had a slow beginning, ripe with rain delays, wonky schedules and overall apathy from fans, as favorites continually walloped the field.

Boy, did it pick up during the tournament's final. Heading into Sunday's men's finale at Roland Garros between David Ferrer and the impenetrable Rafael Nadal, it almost feels like anything is possible again on the beautiful red clay. Nadal's five-set victory over Novak Djokovic on Friday continued a crescendo that began with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's win over Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. 

That momentum of excellence perhaps reached its apex with Saturday's penultimate day at the French Open. With Serena Williams and the Bryan twins, arguably the greatest staples of United States tennis over the past decade-plus, in action, folks were glued to their televisions and live streaming devices for the women's final and men's double final.

Williams was taking on Maria Sharapova, who has quite the following in her own right, and the Bryans were facing off against a very strong duo in Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut. Nevertheless, Day 14 was one of North American ascendance at the French Open. Williams captured her first title at Roland Garros in over a decade, while the Bryans got their second Slam of 2013. 

Let's check in on Saturday's results and break down our biggest takeaways from the action. 

Notable Day 14 Results

Event	Winner	Loser	Score
Women's Final	Serena Williams	Maria Sharapova	6-4, 6-4
Men's Doubles Final	Bob Bryan & Daniel Bryan	Michael Llodra & Nicolas Mahut	6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4)

Major Takeaways From Day 14

Serena Williams Continues World Dominance, Sharapova Still Tough

Needless to say, it's been an interesting 12 months for Williams. The 31-year-old Williams looked to be staring down the barrel of her tennis relevancy at last year's French Open after getting upset by French tennis pro Virginie Razzano in Round 1. It had been two years since Williams won a major championship at that point, with a countless array of injuries and personal frustrations mounting as she embarked on her 30s.

With gobs of money in the bank and worldwide fame that will stretch well beyond her playing days, it would have been understandable if Williams rode into the sunset merely resting on her laurels. Instead, she battled back. Starting with Wimbledon last year, Williams has morphed into the best player in the world again—perhaps reaching a new career apex. She won at Wimbledon, took home an Olympic gold medal and captured the U.S. Open to finish out her 2012, putting her on a path to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking.

That unrelenting destruction only continued at Roland Garros. Williams defeated her opponents in straight sets six of seven times this year, including her championship win over Sharapova. The win gives her 16 Grand Slam titles—her third in the last four tournaments and first at the French Open since 2002.

This time, the triumph had to be just as sweet as it was 11 years ago. Williams was so dominant throughout the tournament that even Martina Navratilova took notice on Twitter:

She might know a thing or two about being good at tennis.  

Williams also joined Navratilova and others by becoming the fourth woman to ever win each Grand Slam multiple times, per Roland Garros' official Twitter feed: 

While Williams ultimately walked away with a straight-sets victory, her triumph was not without a tantalizing fight from Sharapova. The 26-year-old Russian, who was once a self-described "cow on ice" when playing on the red clay, cemented her reputation as one of the toughest women on tour. Her entire tournament was filled with digging holes and falling to frustrating pitfalls of her flawed game on clay, and yet Sharapova always fought back.

Such was the case on Saturday.

In the opening set, it became clear that Sharapova would not relinquish her French Open crown without a fight. Despite facing four different break points on her opening service, Roland Garros' official Twitter feed noted that she was throwing the entirety of her emotions into this fight.

Unfortunately, merely being tough would not cut it for Sharapova on Saturday. Williams rallied from that initial deficit, later broke her opponent and dominated with the serve en route to a 6-4 victory.

In fact, services were the story of the day for both Sharapova and Williams. According to the official match stats, Sharapova won less than half of her first-service points in the finals match. Williams won more than three quarters of hers, including an ace to finish off the match. 

Bryan Brothers Preparing for Bryan Slam?

Much like Williams, there was no question coming into the French Open who the most dominant men's doubles players in the world were. Bob and Mike Bryan have been monoliths of the doubles game for more than a decade, having won their first major championship at the 2003 French Open.

The similarities with Williams don't stop with merely being good American tennis players, though. Bob and Mike Bryan's first Grand Slam triumph together may have come at the French Open, but that's where the success stopped. The duo, despite adding another 12 trophies to their case, had not added a second French Open victory.

That is, they didn't until Saturday. In a match that rivals any doubles event you'll see this year, the Bryan twins defeated Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut in a three-set thrill ride. The Bryans took the first set, winning 6-4, only to cough up the second after losing a break point and being unable to recover. 

Overall, it wasn't the best match for either Bob or Mike. The duo won only two of 12 break points and completely broke down on their service points during the second set. They had just three winners the entire match—a dreadful total for a pairing that won 106 points in a three-set match.

Despite being outplayed for much of the event, the Bryans simply outlasted the Llodra and Mahut, who came into the tournament unranked by the French Open committee. It wasn't pretty, nor was it even all that impressive of a performance. 

But all that matters for the Bryans is the scoreboard. Showing class throughout their match, the Los Angeles Times' Lisa Dillman took time from her busy hockey schedule to congratulate the brothers:

More salient, though, was what this win means for the Bryans. With wins at each of the last three majors, they have the opportunity at Wimbledon to hold all four men's doubles titles at the same time. Oh, and they won the gold medal at last year's Olympics.

Could the Americans be on the precipice of a run unprecedented in tennis history? The odds seem stacked against them. They have just two Wimbledon crowns in their history, matching their total from Roland Garros. 

After Saturday's match, though, it's impossible to count them out.