The Queen of Clay

PARIS—When that last, desperate Simona Halep retrieve on an afternoon brimful of them fell outside the sideline, Maria Sharapova fell to her knees, a French Open champion for the second time in her life. She covered her face, and allowed her head to fall to the red clay. Then, after the perfunctory handshake, she returned to that kneeling position, this time wantonly flinging her arms to the sky.

By then, Halep was sitting in her chair, shedding tears she would be no more able to hold back than a tide of penetrating forehands that continued to flood the court even when Sharapova’s game seemed certain to ebb. Halep put a towel over her head, and she bit her lip. Meanwhile, Sharapova scaled the wall behind the baseline and waded through well-wishers and onlookers, intent on reaching her support team. When she met them, they formed a scrum, danced and shouted in each others’ faces.