Barbora Krejcikova may have felt the pressure in the last two sets. But that’s okay.
It was just the French Open’s women’s singles final.
Yes, the 25-year-old Czech is finally a Grand Slam singles champion. That accomplishment alone tops her total of eight Grand Slam doubles titles, counting juniors.
And she might add another Grand Slam trophy in Sunday’s French Open women’s doubles final.
She already can put the French Open singles trophy above the two Grand Slam doubles championship awards, three Australian Open mixed doubles crowns and three Junior Grand Slam doubles championship trophies
THINGS CHANGED ALMOST OVERNIGHT
Just a few days ago, Krejcikova was just another name that most tennis fans didn’t recognize, even after she scored some significant upsets in the early rounds at Roland Garros. After all, she was ranked only 33rd in the world, that coming after winning a tournament at Strasbourg a week before the French Open.
Then she upended American junior sensation Cori Gauff in the quarterfinals.
How things have changed almost overnight!
Krejcikova has the game to take her much farther on the WTA Tour. And her world ranking is going to shoot straight up from her current ranking after winning her second straight singles title.
She is joining the elite group of the best tennis players on the planet. No future opponent will take her lightly.
SOME OF THE BEST STROKES IN WOMEN’S TENNIS
Krejcikova once again demonstrated some of the best strokes in women’s tennis. It’s almost as if her tennis racket is part of her body. She can change the direction of her strokes in a heartbeat, switching from the direction of the open court to a shot behind her opponent in a whip-like backhand or forehand action. She can hit all angles, too.
It hardly matters how close she is to the net as her tremendous spin seldom fails to take the ball over the net on those spinning shots. Opponents are left flat-footed.
KREJCIKOVA TOOK CHARGE AGAIN IN THIRD SET
Anastasia Pavlyuchenjova did a little better in the second and third sets of Saturday’s women’s singles final at Roland Garros by going for broke with her shots. But that came after Krejcikova broke the Russian’s serve three straight times to offset losing her own serve in the first game of the match.
The string of winning six consecutive games to waltz off with the first set was a shocker as it set the stage for a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 victory for Krejcikova over 29-year-old veteran Pavlyuchenova.
Krejcikova broke service for a 4-3 lead in the third set, then gained a double-match point at 5-3. But before finally closing out the victory in the 10th game, the 5-10 Czech came up with another double-match point situation with a signature short-ball forehand cross-court for a winner. She double-faulted away match point No. 3, but Pavlyuchenova saved her with a backhand error on match point No. 4 to end the match.
A TENNIS CHAMPION OR JUST A CLAY-COURT CHAMPION?
Was this just another title for the Czech, who has had so much trouble with her serve? She gets plenty of practice catching her service tosses.
Of course, it’s a dream come true for the new French Open women’s champion.
Was this another berth of a champion primarily due to the red clay? The tennis world is waiting for that answer. Wimbledon’s grass may be calling with the first test and then hopefully the U.S. Open’s hard courts.
See James Beck’s Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier columns at postandcourier.com (search on James Beck column). James Beck can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com
