20 for 20: No. 15, Sharapova d. Halep, 2014 French Open

Last year, for the 50th anniversary of TENNIS Magazine, we focused on the past. Given the tome of stories we’d told, and the trove of players and matches we’d witnessed over the past half-century, it was only natural to look back.

And it was comical to even consider doing something similar this year, for the 20th anniversary of TENNIS.com. So we’re taking the opposite approach, and instead focusing on the future. All throughout the week, we’ll be talking about what’s next for the sport, the website and much more.

It wouldn’t be an anniversary, though, without a countdown. But how do you count down events that haven’t yet happened? By predicting what will come to be.

With that said, we present TENNIS.com’s 20 for 20: Twenty matches that we’ll still be talking about twenty years from now. We’ve restricted this list to matches that have taken place in the last 10 years—or, as 20 for 20 author Steve Tignor has put it, “The Golden Decade.” (If you haven’t read our 50th Anniversary Moments or Tournament of Champions, also written by Steve, I implore you to do so.)

It has been a bountiful time for tennis since TENNIS.com’s inception, and it’s anyone’s guess what the next 20 years will bring. But we believe that each of these matches will sustain the test of time.—Ed McGrogan, Senior Editor

Roland Garros has long been known as the toughest Grand Slam to win; the slow red clay demands a deeper mix of stamina, patience, power and creativity than any other surface. What happens when you throw in a warm sun and debilitating humidity? You get a full-on war of attrition like the 2014 final between Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep, which took three hours and two minutes to decide. If there’s a match and victory from the last 10 years that defines the word “gritty” in all of its meanings, it’s this one.

From a physical, stylistic, and experience standpoint, Sharapova vs. Halep was a battle of opposites. The 6’2” Russian, a four-time Grand Slam winner, stood tall and aimed her lasers at the lines. The 5’6” Romanian, who was playing her first major final, flew across the baseline and opened up the court with her smooth ground strokes. In the first set, the question was whether Halep could stand up to Sharapova; in the second set, the question was whether Sharapova could finish off Halep. In the third, with Halep running ever faster and Sharapova grunting ever more loudly, the two sprinted down the stretch together. After nearly tripping herself up a few times, Sharapova proved to have the stronger kick. She broke at 4-4 and held at love for the title.

“This is the toughest Grand Slam final I’ve ever played,” Sharapova said.

Much to everyone’s surprise, including her own, the woman who had struggled just to stay upright on clay a few years earlier was now a two-time French Open champion.

“If somebody had told me, at some stage in my career, that I’d have more Roland Garros titles than any other Grand Slam,” Sharapova said, “I’d probably go get drunk. Or tell them to get drunk. One or the other.”

On this day, she earned it.