Czech Barbora Krejcikova claimed a maiden grand slam title when she beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 2-6 6-4 in the French Open final on Saturday.
The 25-year-old is the first Czech to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup since Hana Mandlikova, who represented Czechoslovakia, triumphed in 1981.
Krejcikova won six games in a row to take the opening set after dropping serve in the first, before Pavlyuchenkova gained the upper hand in the second set.
The Russian had her left thigh taped at 5-2 but served it out to level at one-set all before Krejcikova broke decisively for 4-3 in the decider to extend her winning streak on clay to 12 matches.
For a brief moment in the semifinal against Maria Sakkari, an exhausted Barbora Krejcikova thought she had booked her place in the French Open final and she raised her arms in triumph. Unfortunately for the Czech, an incorrect line call by the umpire on match point put her celebrations on ice and she quickly realised that she had to do it all over again. At 7-8, 30-40 in the decider of her semifinal against Sakkari, the Greek hit a forehand that was called long by the line judge, only for the chair umpire to check the mark and call it in.
With the contest swinging wildly from one player to another, the momentum could have tilted back Sakkari's way.
TV replays showed that the ball was actually out and Krejcikova, who is bidding to become the first Czech woman to win the title at Roland Garros since Hana Mandlikova in 1981, then saw off a game point before wrapping it up on her next, and fifth, match point for a 7-5 4-6 9-7 victory.
She could easily have lost her composure after the umpire's decision to rule the ball in, but Krejcikova barely protested.
While players at the other three grand slams can challenge line calls by using Hawk Eye, with some slams relying on the system to make all line calls, Roland Garros organisers have adamantly refused to introduce the ball-tracking technology. Their argument has always been that umpires can easily spot the dent left by the balls to decide close calls. On Thursday, however, that could have cost Krejcikova a place in the final.
"No Hawk-Eye on clay, it's difficult. I mean, sometimes it's a help, sometimes it doesn't. I don't know. It's very difficult," said world No 33 Krejcikova.
"At that moment I was just like, 'Well, it's out, but what can you do?' The chair umpire, he has seen it as in. What can I do? I cannot do anything about it. I cannot call anyone, change his decision.
"I was like... it's fine. Doesn't matter. Just let's go.
"You just have to put everything together and just keep working, next one, next one, next one," she explained.
The 25-year-old was also at a point where she felt simply being on court in such a match was enough and said she would have been proud of herself even if she had lost.
"I always wanted to play matches like this. I always wanted to play tournaments like this, big tournaments, big opponents, last rounds. It was always something that I wanted to achieve. It was just taking so long," she said. "It just took me some time, but I think right now it's the right moment. Especially mentally I think I'm just there. I really matured."
FRENCH OPEN CHAMP BARBORA KREJCIKOVA’S FACTBOX
• Age: 25
• Nation: Czech Republic
• WTA ranking: 33 (Highest ranking: 33) Seeding: Unseeded grand slam titles: 1 (French Open 2021)
Early life
• Born in Brno, Czech Republic. Started playing tennis aged six and was later coached by 1998 Wimbledon women’s singles champion Jana Novotna.
Career to date
• Started professional career on ITF circuit in 2010 and ranked junior world No 3 in 2013, when she won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open girls’doubles titles with Katerina Siniakova.
• Made WTA Tour debut in 2014 and won first WTA doubles titles with An-SophieMestach at Coupe Banque Nationale in 2015.
• Made breakthrough in 2016 by qualifying for the women’s doubles semifinals at the French Open with Siniakova. Also reached the US Open quarterfinals with her Czech partner the same year.
• Won the women’s doubles title in 2018 at the French Open and Wimbledon with Siniakova, with the pair ending the year as the top-ranked doubles players.
• Won the mixed doubles title with American Rajeev Ram at the 2019 Australian Open, while also reaching the Wimbledon women’s doubles semis with Siniakova.
• Won her maiden WTA singles title at Strasbourg, a day before the start of this year’s French Open.
• In only her fifth main draw singles appearance at a major, she won the French Open in 2021.
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