
Rafael Nadal won his record-extending 11th title at the French Open when he beat Dominic Thiem on Sunday in Paris.

The Spaniard won his first French Open on his debut as a 19-year-old at Roland Garros and has only lost two matches since then.

Simona Halep beat Sloane Stephens in three sets Saturday to win the French Open and her first major after losing three grand slam finals.

Halep finally got her name on the trophy, 10 years after winning the junior title at Roland Garros.

Nadal had kept alive his bid for an unprecedented 11th French Open title with a dominant semifinal win over Juan Martin del Potro in Paris.

Austria's Dominic Thiem is the pretender to Rafael Nadal's claycourt throne after booking a place in his first French Open final with victory against Marco Cecchinato.

Nadal was rattled for a set and a half against Argentine Diego Schwartzman but he took advantage of an overnight rain delay and returned with renewed vigor to win in four sets to reach the semifinals.

Schwartzman ended Nadal's 37-set winning streak at Roland Garros after taking the opener, but rain delayed their quarterfinal overnight and he went down in four sets to the resurgent Spaniard.

Halep had reached her second consecutive French Open final with a straight sets win over Garbine Murguruza of Spain. Halep retained her world No.1 spot as she bids for a first grand slam title.

Reigning US Open champion Stephens (right) beat fellow American Madison Keys to reach her first French Open final.

Two-time champion Maria Sharapova, playing her first French Open since returning from a 15-month suspension for taking the banned heart drug meldonium, lost to Muguruza in the quarterfinals.

Sharapova was due to meet old rival Serena Williams in the fourth round but the American pulled out ahead of the match with a shoulder injury.

Novak Djokovic is undergoing a slump in his stellar career but was hoping to use the French Open as a springboard for better things. However, he lost out to Italy's Marco Cecchinato in the quarterfinals.

The unseeded Cecchinato, who had never previously won a round at a grand slam, beat Djokovic, the 12-time major champion and 2016 French Open winner, in four sets.

World No. 3 Alexander Zverev was expected to be one of the main challengers to Nadal but after squeezing through three five-set matches he fell to Thiem in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was at Roland Garros watching Williams beat Julia Goerges in the third round.

No Frenchman has triumphed on home clay since Yannick Noah in 1983 and the drought continued this year. No French players made the fourth round.

Williams turned heads in this black catsuit as she made her first grand slam appearance for 16 months following the birth of her daughter in September. The 23-time grand slam champion said it made her feel like a "warrior princess" but added it helped with her circulation.

The Williams sisters teamed up in doubles, but after overpowering Japan's Miyu Kato and Shuko Aoyama (pictured) in their first match they crashed out in the third round.

Nadal is known as the "King of Clay" since winning his first French Open on his debut as a 19-year-old. No player has won the same grand slam as many times as the Spaniard has in Paris.

The French Open oozes Parisian chic and is a springtime rite in the capital.

Djokovic's recent results suggested he could be turning the corner in his recent struggles. A win on day two was a decent start for the 2016 champion, who had slipped to 22 in the world.

On day one, defending champion Jelena Ostapenko was dethroned by Kateryna Kozlova.

Bad news traveled in two as Venus Williams also suffered a shock exit after losing to Wang Qiang.