Roland-Garros: Czech Barbora Krejcikova wins her first Grand Slam title

Published on : 06/12/2021 – 5:10 PMModified : 06/12/2021 – 5:34 PM

Junior final, men’s double final, women’s final. Roland-Garros is nearing its end on this 14th day of the tournament. Find the different events of the day.

• After a long fight, Barbora Krejcikova wins her first Grand Slam title

Czech Barbora Krejcikova won in three sets against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win the 2021 edition of Roland-Garros: 6/1, 2/6, 6/4.

The Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had however surprised her opponent on the first game. She then walked on the court a Barbora Krejcikova probably slightly paralyzed by the stake, she who declared after her semi-final: “I never imagined that I would be a Grand Slam finalist. I can’t believe it “.

However, the tenniswoman may not get over it, her presence at this stage of the competition owes nothing to chance. She proves it with her reaction: she cancels the break of the Russian and wins six consecutive games. The first set returns to him in 32 min (6-1).

On the next round, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova gives back the change of her coin to the Czech. She takes the first three games. Barbora Krejcikova saves her serve so as not to sink, but the Russian machine, finally in legs, wins the next two. While the native of Samara is used for the set, the Czech miraculously manages to save this game. In the process, the Russian claims a medical time out, visibly affected in the adductors. She returns to the court to conclude the set (6-2).

The Russian must therefore play the deciding set on one leg. Her opponent tries to take advantage of this by forcing her to play on the outside. The two finalists surrender blow for blow: Krejcikova breaks on the second serve of his opponent? The latter does the same just behind. However, the Czech regains a decisive advantage by being imperial on her returns of service. The Russian finally cracked despite three match points saved (6/4).

“It’s really hard to find the words, I can’t believe what’s happening to me, I can’t believe I just won a Grand Slam tournament,” whispered the winner.

At 25, his best result so far in Major was to reach a round of 16 last year, already at Roland Garros. She was participating in her fifth major tournament, her third on Parisian clay. With this major victory, Krejcikova will reach the 15th WTA rank on Monday, the best ranking of his career.

She received the Suzanne-Lenglen Trophy from the hands of tennis legend Martina Navratilova, Czechoslovakian turned American, who won twice in Paris (1982, 1984).

• Luca van Assche, new to French tennis?

Luca van Assche, 17, won the junior title by beating his compatriot Arthur Fils 6-4, 6-2 in the final to conclude a tournament in which the last four was entirely French. What if it was the long-awaited succession for the Blues?

Van Assche, Fils, but also Sean Cuenin and Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard: four boys in the semi-finals that French tennis would see as a third generation of Musketeers after the Cochet-Brugnon-Borotra-Lacoste in the years 1920-1930 and the Monfils- Tsonga-Gasquet-Simon from the 2010s.

“The junior tournament, that interests me!”, Launched the new national technical director, Nicolas Escudé, before the boys and girls tables start and after the disappearance of all the Blues from the main draw, from the second round of Roland Garros.

The four boys went through the Pôle France de Poitiers, which specializes in training young people from 13 to 16 years old, and from which one in two players selected for the French team have come from over the past ten years.

Currently, Sean Cuenin (17, ranked -15 in France, 12th ITF and 1660th ATP), Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard (17, ranked 85th French, 8th ITF and 1042nd ATP) and Arthur Fils (16, ranked -15 in France, 18th ITF and 1035th ATP) train at the National Training Center (CNE).