Her coach Patrick Mouratoglou believes she is now ready to matching Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slams.
One has nothing to lose, the other is expected to win on Saturday. Even though Romania's Simona Halep is the higher seed, at four, Maria Sharapova is the household name, the face on the billboards and is playing in her third successive French Open final.
Big-stage experience proved the deciding factor for Dominika Cibulkova on Wednesday as she marched into her second grand slam semi-final with an impressive 6-3, 6-0 demolition of Simona Halep at the Australian Open.
Maria Sharapova recovered from a second-set wobble to dispatch third seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday and set up a Madrid Open final clash against rising talent Simona Halep.
Simona Halep's powers of recovery will be put to the test on day eight of the Australian Open on Monday when the world number one meets Japan's Naomi Osaka in a tricky fourth round clash.
As the fans head toward Flushing Meadows, tennis stars gear up with ground-breaking styles to rule the courts.
IMAGES from Day 6 of the Wimbledon Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Saturday.
Factbox on Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, who beat Romania's Simona Halep 4-6 6-4 6-3 to win the French Open on Saturday and claim her first grand slam title:
Czech Lucie Safarova took the final qualifying spot for the end-of-season WTA Finals after Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro was knocked out of the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.
Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta upset China's Australian Open champion Li Na on Friday to join Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the women's final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Juan Martin del Potro's summer renaissance continued on Monday as the unseeded Argentine advanced into the US Open quarter-finals when Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem quit their match with an injury.
Five things to watch out for at the French Open on Tuesday.
Germany's Angelique Kerber breezed past American Madison Keys in straight sets to enter the Australian Open semi-finals in Melbourne on Wednesday. The 2016 champion easily won 6-1, 6-2 in just 51 minutes.
2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie eliminated in 1st round.
Naomi Osaka beat Jennifer Brady to win her second Australian Open title and fourth Grand Slam crown, extending her win streak to 21 matches.
Organisers are confident a rain-hit opening day will not hold up the tournament.
As far as Halep was concerned, her 6-1, 6-3 semi-final win over Elina Svitolina meant that her mother Tania will finally get to experience something she has been dreaming of for more than a decade.
In only her second year on the professional tour, Eugenie Bouchard reached the semi-finals of the Australian and French Opens and is now a win away from living up her billing as the "next Maria Sharapova".
Photos of the French Open women's final game between Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the USTA would take "extraordinary precautions" to protect players, including robust testing, additional cleaning, extra locker room space and dedicated accommodation.
Images from the women's singles quarter-finals at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Maria Sharapova continued her mastery of Romania's Simona Halep with a high quality 6-4, 6-4 victory filled with bruising baseline rallies to edge closer to a last four berth at the WTA Finals on Tuesday.
Maria Sharapova recovered from a woeful start to overwhelm rising talent Simona Halep 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Madrid Open and claim her 31st career title on Sunday.
Former world number one Simona Halep stepped up her French Open preparations with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over American Coco Gauff to march into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open on Monday while Andy Murray won on clay for the first time in five years.
Fashion statements from Roland Garros...
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal is placed fourth in the list headed by American tennis legend Serena Williams followed by Maria Sharapova and elder sister Venus.
Halep has struggled for form and fitness since her first-round defeat at the US Open last August and came to Australia on a five-match losing streak and without a coach after long-serving Darren Cahill left for "family reasons".
Angelique Kerber was forced to dig deep in her WTA Finals opener before the German world number one battled past Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3 in a high-class baseline slugfest at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
Serena Williams crushed Romanian qualifier Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 to book her place in the Italian Open final and extend her winning streak to 23 matches on Saturday.
A look at the top women's contenders at the 2020 French Open.
Still shaking off the rust from a 15-month doping ban and a string of nagging injuries, the 30-year-old Sharapova needed all her skill, determination and two hours and 44 minutes to snatch victory in front of a packed Arthur Ashe stadium.
American tennis ace Serena Williams has maintained her No 1 spot, while German Angelique Kerber has slipped to the third in the latest women's tennis world rankings issued by the WTA.
Elina Svitolina won the women's singles at the Italian Open final to claim her fourth title of the season on Sunday after her opponent Simona Halep sunk without trace in the final set.
Defending doubles gold medallists Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka were stretched by Japanese pairing Kei Nishikoir and Go Saeda on Monday, with the Swiss only winning the thrilling match 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 as darkness fell.
Dominika Cibulkova completed a remarkable debut at the WTA Finals when the Slovakian world number eight stormed to victory with an unlikely 6-3 6-4 triumph over top seed and world number one Angelique Kerber in the title showdown on Sunday. Cibulkova lost her first two round robin matches before beating Simona Halep to squeeze into the semi-finals and her victory on Sunday matches the feat of 2015 winner Agnieszka Radwanska, who captured the title with a 1-2 pool record.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov has been named Bulgaria's Athlete of the Year in a nationwide poll conducted by sports journalists while French Open runner-up Simona Halep won the award in neigbouring Romania.
Simona Halep is emerging as one of the few players on Tour.
Top seed Simona Halep was pooled with grand slam winners Maria Sharapova and Flavia Pennetta in a formidable looking Red Group for the end-of-season WTA Finals on Friday.
Serena displayed great mobility to win successive points after long rallies -- one of 21 shots, one of 13 -- and secure what proved to be a decisive break of serve.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi dropped his busy weekend schedule and headed to New York on Saturday for the first all-Italian women's final at the US Open.
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