French Open 2015 Women's Final: Results, Stats for Williams vs. Safarova

Serena Williams would not be denied the 20th Grand Slam title of her career. She outlasted No. 13 Lucie Safarova in a three-set challenge, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2, in Saturday's 2015 French Open women's final, further etching her name among the sport's all-time greats.

Adversity followed Williams throughout Roland Garros as she came down with a flu virus and got pushed to three sets in five of her matches, but it didn't seem to faze her. She found her groove, and once again it was too much for her opponent to handle.

Safarova dazzled prior to Saturday by not losing a single set, but that changed quickly when Williams stepped onto the court. Safarova did well to win the second set on a tiebreak and force a decisive third, but that only forced Williams to up her game even more.

For everything to know about the match, including the score, stats, quotes and more, take a look below.

Women's Singles Final	Score
No. 1 Serena Williams def. No. 13 Lucie Safarova	6-3, 6-7 (7-2), 6-2

Michel Euler/Associated Press

To say early sets have been a nuisance for Williams at Roland Garros this year would be putting it lightly. She dropped opening sets in four of her first six matches, looking many times like she was down and out, only to surge late.

She didn't seem interested in continuing that with a title on the line.

Instead of another sluggish start, Williams came out on fire. She smashed four aces in the opening set, defending her serve and breaking Safarova once. That's all it took to claim the set 6-3 and take the early momentum.

Williams kept it rolling in the second set and nearly had a chance to serve for the match before Safarova's inevitable last run came. Aided by a whopping 25 unforced errors from Williams in the second set alone, Safarova went 3-of-3 on her break points to force a third and decisive set.

Safarova got early hope in starting the third set 2-0, but Williams quickly responded to shut the door. She rattled off six straight games to close the match and secure her 20th Slam trophy.

Roland Garros captured some highlights of the match:

The greatness of Williams made Safarova second-best on the day, but she performed more than valiantly in her first Slam final. She broke Williams on all four of her break points, played to her style of forcing her opponent to work and nearly caught up to Williams late.

Williams	Stat	Safarova
11	Aces	2
9	Double Faults	1
34	Winners	16
42	Unforced Errors	17
97	Total Points	81

But unlike previous cases at Roland Garros where Williams had to figure it out early, Safarova came at her once the match seemed over. Williams' 42 unforced errors (more than double Safarova's 17) nearly did her in, before she settled down and continued forward.

For Williams, even getting up for Saturday's match proved tough after a flu illness held her back in the previous few matches. She shared her feelings with Kate Battersby of RolandGarros.com: "When you have the flu, your whole body aches. That's what I have been dealing with. Even now I don't have any energy and I just want to go to bed."

It's no secret what might have been pushing her through, other than simply winning the French Open for the third time in her career. History was at stake, as now Williams is just four majors away from breaking Margaret Court's once-unbreakable record, as ESPN's John Buccigross noted:

It's scary to think of where Williams might go from here, but one thing seems sure—Court's record looks to be in jeopardy.

Williams faced a stretch of her career where reaching 20 majors—much less 24—seemed impossible. But she's since won five Slam titles since the start of 2013, reclaiming her dominance over a sport that left her without a title for all of 2011.

She's two-for-two now in 2015 Slams, and she'll descend upon Wimbledon with the chance to continue that. Although she's a five-time champion there, she hasn't won it since 2012—her longest drought among Slams after her French Open triumph.

Williams' best play has eluded her at the All England Club over the last couple of years, but we could say the same about Roland Garros, where she had only won one title in the last 13 years prior to Saturday.

That didn't seem to matter once Williams set her mind to getting it done, and it showed as she overcame obstacle after obstacle to get there. Why should Wimbledon be any different?