We salute the champions of the 2012 French Open tennis tournament…

Rafael Nadal won his record seventh title at Roland Garros beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.  Maria Sharapova, the new Number One ranked player, beat Sara Errani 6-3, 6-2 to win her first French Open title and complete a “career Slam.”  In women’s doubles, Sara Errani teamed with fellow Italian, Roberta Vinci to defeat Russians, Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and win their first French Open title after losing in the 2012 Australian Open women’s doubles final. They are undefeated on clay this year at 23-0 having also won titles at Acapulco, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.  Errani was the first player since Kim Clijsters in 2003 to reach the singles and doubles finals.  In men’s doubles, Number One seeds, Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor won their second straight title at Roland Garros defeating Bob and Mike Bryan in the final 6-4, 6-4.   Mirnyi and Nestor have each won four titles at the French Open with different partners.  In mixed doubles, the Indian team of Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi, who won the 2009 Australian Open title together, beat Klaudia Jans-Ignacik of Poland and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico 7-6 (3), 6-1 for the title.  In the juniors, Annika Beck of Germany defeated Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 for the girls title.  Belgian, Kimmer Coppejans, defeated Canadian, Filip Peliwo, 6-1, 6-3 to win the boys' title.  In the wheelchair competition, Esther Vergeer of the Netherlands continued her dominance by beating Aniek Van Koot 6-0, 6-0 while Frenchman, Stephane Houdet saved two match points en route to beating Shingo Kunieda, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6.

Ten different countries are represented in the list of champions below...

THE CHAMPIONS
Women’s Singles – Maria Sharapova (Russia)
Men’s Singles – Rafael Nadal (Spain)
Women’s Doubles – Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci (Italy)
Men’s Doubles -  Max Mirnyi (Belarus) and Daniel Nestor (Canada)
Mixed Doubles – Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi (India)
Junior Boys’ – Kimmer Coppejans (Belgium)
Junior Girls’ – Annika Beck (Germany)
Wheelchair Women’s Singles – Esther Vergeer (The Netherlands)
Wheelchair Men’s Singles – Stephane Houdet (France)