Maria Sharapova vs Simona Halep Live Stream, TV Channel, Preview for French Open Final (+Head to Head, Highlights)

Maria Sharapova vs Simona Halep Live Stream, TV Channel, Preview for French Open Final (+Head to Head, Highlights)
Maria Sharapova from Russia, left, celebrates her victory holding her trophy next to Simona Halep from Romania, right, during a Madrid Open tennis tournament final match in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, May 11, 2014. The pair meet in another final at the French Open on June 7.(AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Zachary Stieber
6/7/2014
Updated:
6/6/2014

Maria Sharapova made it to the French Open final, where she will face Simona Halep on June 7.

The match is slated to start at 3 p.m. CEST (9 a.m. EDT).

The match will be broadcast on Eurosport in both Russia and Romania.

Live streaming will be available through Eurosport or the WTA as well as many of the broadcasters listed below.

Sharapova, ranked No. 7, became one of the favorites to win this tournament after No. 1 Serena Williams and No. 2 Li Na were knocked out in the early rounds.

Halep, No. 4, was also among the favorites then. Sharapova made it past rising Canadian and No. 18 Eugenie Bouchard in the semifinals (4-6, 7-5, 6-2) and unranked Garbine Muguruza--who took out Williams in the second round--in the quarterfinals (1-6, 7-5, 6-1).

Halep dispatched with No. 28 Andrea Petkovic in the semis (6-2, 7-6) and easily beat No. 27 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarters (6-2, 6-2).

Sharapova and Halep have met three times before. Sharapova has won all three times.

They first met in 2012 at Indian Wells, with Sharapova winning in two sets (6-3, 6-4).

Next was the China Open the same year, also in two sets (7-5, 7-5).

They also met earlier this year at the Madrid Open final, with Sharapova winning in three sets (1-6, 6-2, 6-3).

See an Associated Press preview below and other broadcasters below that.

5 things to look for in French Open women’s final 

PARIS—Five things to look for in the French Open women’s final Saturday.

SHARAPOVA VS. HALEP: Maria Sharapova certainly has the edge in experience against Simona Halep, having already won four Grand Slam titles and participated in four other finals. And who would have thought Sharapova might wind up with two trophies on the red clay of Roland Garros before getting a second at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open or Australian Open? This will be the 27-year-old Sharapova’s third consecutive appearance in a French Open final, having won the championship in 2012, then losing to Serena Williams a year ago. Halep, meanwhile, was 1-4 for her career at Roland Garros until these two weeks.

HALEP'S FIRST FINAL: The fourth-seeded Halep is trying to become the second woman from Romania to win a Grand Slam title (the first, 1978 French Open champion Virginia Ruzici, happens to be Halep’smanager). Halep, 22, never had been past the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament until now, although she’s been on the rise, winning seven titles over the past two seasons and rising from No. 57 in the rankings 12 months ago. “Her level has definitely increased in the last year,” Sharapova said. Still, even Halep acknowledged that controlling her nerves is vital. “It will be a tough moment for me,” she said after beating Andrea Petkovic in the semifinals.

SERVING HIGHS AND LOWS: Sharapova reworked her service motion after having surgery on her right shoulder in 2008, and that stroke confounds her to this day. While beating Eugenie Bouchard in the semifinals, for example, Sharapova hit nine double-faults. She had eight in the quarterfinals. But whenSharapova can get that part of her game to work, it can put an opponent on her heels. Down the stretch against Bouchard, Sharapova won each of her last five service games, never facing so much as one break point in that span. “In some moments, it let me down,” Sharapova said, “but in some moments, it backed me up.”

CONTRASTS: The two finalists offer all sorts of contrasts. Their heights, for one thing: Sharapova is 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters); Halep is 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters). And while there is very little that’s subtle aboutSharapova — from her powerful groundstrokes at the baseline to her shot-accompanying shrieks to her success-accompanying fist shakes and yells of “Come on!” — Halep plays a quieter style. She causes foes problems by finding tough angles, changing speeds and getting to nearly every ball. She won’t out-hitSharapova but might outmaneuver her. Halep has said in the past that her ability move around the court improved after having breast-reduction surgery five years ago — a procedure Halep said she would have undergone even if she weren’t an athlete. Asked about the operation at a news conference this week, Halep said she didn’t want to speak about what she called “my personal thing.”

3 SETS?: The last French Open women’s final to go the distance was in 2001, when Jennifer Capriati edged Kim Clijsters 12-10 in the third set. If that happens Saturday, Sharapova’s got quite a track record: She has won 19 three-setters in a row on clay, including her last three matches in Paris, each after dropping the opening set. Halep is 8-1 this year in matches that went three sets, although she hasn’t faced that sort of stress test at Roland Garros, winning every match so far in straight sets.

Romania’s Simona Halep returns the ball to Germany’s Andrea Petkovic during their semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France, Thursday, June 5, 2014. Halep won 6-2, -7-6. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

Russia’s Maria Sharapova returns the ball during the semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament against Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France, Thursday, June 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

—————————Broadcasters

Africa

Algeria, Angola, Benin — beIN

Botswana — CSN

Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Dijbouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia,  Ivory Coast — Supersport

Middle East

Bahrain, Iran, Iraq — beIN

Asia Pacific

Australia, Brunei, Camboadia, East Timor, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam — Fox Sports

China — CCTV

Hong Kong — PCCW, Fox Sports

 

India — Neo Prime, Neo Sports, MNC

Japan — WOWOW, TV Tokkyo

Korea — SBS, Fox Sports

Myanmar — TDM

New Zealand — Sky Sport

Singapore — Racquet Channel

Thailand — BBTV, Fox Sports

Americas

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Domicia, Dominican Republic, French Guyana, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Barthelemy, St. Eestatius, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, – ESPN Caribbean

 

Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Falkland Islands, Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela – ESPN Latin America

Brazil — Bandsports, ESPN Latin America

Canada — RDS, TSN

USA — NBC, Espn 2, Tennis channel, TV5, American Armed Forces Network

Europe

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyrprus, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Kirghizstan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, Vatican State

Austria — Puls TV

Bosnia –RTRS

Czech Republic — CT Sport

Finland — YLE

France — Eurosport, France 2, France 3, France 4

greece — ERT

Ireland — Setanta Sports

Italy — Rai 3, Rai sport

Kazakhstan — KazSports TV, Eurosport

Montenegro — RTCG

Netherlands — Ned 1

Serbia — RTS

Slovenia — Planet TV

Switzerland — RTS, SRF, SF 2

United Kingdom — ITV