By Martyn Herman PARIS (Reuters) - Serena Williams's love affair with winning tennis tournaments, and Paris, began 14 years ago and the American's passion for both remains intense after winning the French Open on Saturday. The 31-year-old claimed the first of her 52 singles titles in the Paris indoor tournament in 1999 and has since gone on to become one of the greatest players of all time.

Serena Williams admitted that her first round humiliation at the 2012 French Open helped inspire her to victory in Saturday's final, her second Paris title coming 11 years after her first. The 31-year-old American became the oldest women's winner at Roland Garros in the Open era with her 6-4, 6-4 victory over defending champion Maria Sharapova. It gave her a 16th Grand Slam singles title and took her record to 74 wins in 77 matches since she suffered her worst loss at a major 12 months ago when Virginie Razzano dumped her out of the first round in Paris.

Serena Williams won her second French Open title on Saturday, 11 years after her first triumph, defeating title-holder Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4 in a brief, but high-quality final. It was the 31-year-old American's 16th Grand Slam title win, taking her to within two of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova who are tied for fourth on the all-time list. And it underscored her near total domination of the women's game, having won three of the last four Grand Slam titles -- at Wimbledon, the US and French Opens -- and reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova stayed firmly on course for a showdown in the French Open final on Friday by swatting aside overmatched opponents. They were joined in the last 16 by two other former champions - Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova - while the 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy made it through to the third round. Williams and Sharapova, the two superstars of the women's game have been duelling for the world number one spot for the last year along with Victoria Azarenka, and their rivalry is currently the biggest draw in the women's game.