Barbora Krejcikova said so, she “Never imagined becoming a finalist in a Grand Slam tournament”. So twice in the same weekend… By winning, Saturday June 12, against the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (6-1, 2-6, 6-4), the 25-year-old Czech player added her name to the list of surprise winners of the Roland-Garros women’s draw. One day before playing in the women’s doubles final, alongside her compatriot Katerina Siniakova.
Labeled, without necessarily accepting it, “doubles player” for having won two Grand Slam titles (Roland Garros and Wimbledon, in 2018), Barbora Krejcikova inaugurated her individual trophy cabinet this year. On the shelf, the Suzanne-Lenglen Cup will join that of the Strasbourg Internationals, which the Czech won a few days before reaching Paris. With twelve victories in a row, the young woman is the player in form of the moment. Even if, the natural returning, the native of Brno apologized to her victim of the day, for having beaten her.
Reaching the final against all expectations – starting with theirs – Krejcikova and Pavlyuchenkova knew that their final test on the Parisian ocher would be more a matter of nerves than of talent. Neophytes at this level, the two young women had validated their ticket for the title match thanks to an unfailing mental solidity, despite conceded games, missed shots and a match point saved – for the Czech.
“I’m happy to have managed to manage this match as I did, savored the young woman after the meeting. I knew that mentally it was going to be important. And I’m glad I didn’t panic. “
Krejcikova, winner of the fight
The scenario of the final did not change. A few hours after the end of the constant fight between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the Philippe-Chatrier court did not attend a close match, the two players struggling to play their best tennis at the same time. If it rained winning shots – 34 for Krejcikova, 23 for Pavlyuchenkova – the two players committed a number of unforced errors – 31 for the Czech and 16 for the Russian.
Still, a final is won, and the fight Barbora Krejcikova went to seek her first trophy in a Grand Slam tournament. “I knew I had to serve very well. It was a very tough match ”, breathed the Czech after the meeting.
Better back in the game than her opponent, Krejcikova saw the world number 32 regain color in the second round – despite medical intervention on a painful thigh. Recognizing that she ran out of juice late in the game – where she sometimes seemed to be playing on one leg – Pavlyuchenkova greeted “Talent and energy” of the Czech, who had to wait for her fourth match point to raise her arms to the sky.
Since 2007, and the hat-trick of the Belgian Justine Henin, no player has managed to keep her crown at Roland Garros. In the middle of the week, Iga Swiatek added his name to the list of thirteen unhinged tenants – sometimes without being able to defend their crown, like the Australian Ashleigh Barty who had not taken part in the 2020 edition due to the health situation linked to Covid-19.
Fair-play, the Polish congratulated Krejcikova on her coronation, Sunday, and “His fabulous career in recent weeks”, by giving him “Meet on the court” Sunday. Associated with the American doubles specialist Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Swiatek will face her successor in the doubles final.
Unlike the men’s circuit, where the Grand Slam trophies remain the exclusive possession of the Nadal-Djokovic-Federer trio with very rare exceptions, women’s tennis struggles to emerge a dominant figure on all courts – apart from Naomi Osaka gradually takes on the costume that Serena Williams is about to put away. In the past four years, only two players have won several Majors (Osaka and Romania’s Simona Halep).
In case of doubles victory, Krejcikova can join Pierce
This situation shrouds tournaments in a haze of uncertainty. Straightforward, as her powerful game knows how to be, Greece’s Maria Sakkari summed it up. “The table has changed so much, it doesn’t matter who is top ranked, the ranking doesn’t mean anything anymore. “ After eliminating the defending champion, Iga Swiatek, in the quarter-finals, the young Hellene gave in at the gates of the final, after having obtained a match point against Barbora Krejcikova.
From the 2021 edition of the Roland-Garros women’s tournament, in addition to the name of the winner, we will remember her string of surprises. Between the packages of stars – like that of the Japanese Naomi Osaka, for extra-sporting reasons – and the losses of seeds in the first rounds, he would have been risking betting on the composition of the last four – and on the name of the winner.
For the sixth time in a row, Roland-Garros crowns a player who has never won a Grand Slam tournament. “I don’t know if there is something special that explains why so many players get their first Major here, I’m just happy to be on the list now”, smiled the winner.
Cup gripped in the hands, Barbora Krejcikova told, from the podium, her emotion when she met her childhood idol Justine Henin a few days ago. And his surprise that the Belgian legend – seven Grand Slam titles – knows his first name. From now on, her name appears after that of the Belgian on the Roland-Garros list.
But the young Czech has not yet completed her tournament. Sunday, he has one final to play, in doubles. In a tournament where surprises have followed one another, if she were to win, the new queen of Roland-Garros would join Mary Pierce, the only winner in singles and doubles, in 2000. She who, on Saturday, struggled to “Believe what just happened”, may not be at the end of its surprises.