The National Bank Open, formerly Rogers Cup

KREJCIKOVA IS THE NEW QUEEN OF ROLAND-GARROS

June 13, 2021

Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic won her first Grand Slam title on Saturday thanks to a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the French Open final. Krejcikova, who was competing in the main draw of the French Open for the third time in her career, had never made it past the fourth round in Paris before this week.

The tension was palpable at the beginning of the match, but after conceding a break in her first service game, Krejcikova managed to regroup and take control of the encounter, breaking her opponent three times to take the set in dominant fashion after only 31 minutes of play.

The Czech seemed to be heading for an easy win, but Pavlyuchenkova had other ideas. The Russian fought back to take a quick 3-0 lead in the second set. Two more service breaks in the sixth and eighth games allowed her to level the score and force a deciding set.

The suspense would therefore continue before crowning a new champion at Roland-Garros.

Krejcikova was able to turn Saturday’s championship match back in her favour in the final frame by breaking Pavlyuchenkova twice to take a 4-3 lead and managed to get the two service holds she needed despite a final push from the Russian to secure the biggest triumph of her career.

For both Krejcikova and Pavlyuchenkova, a Grand Slam final was a new experience. The 25-year-old Czech, who had become more of a doubles specialist until this remarkable singles run in Paris, also won her first final of 2021 at the clay court tournament in Strasbourg just before the French Open.

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