Even in one of the most competitive and unpredictable era of women’s tennis, unseeded Barbora Krejcikova becoming the French Open 2021 cham...
Even in one of the most competitive and unpredictable era of women’s tennis, unseeded Barbora Krejcikova becoming the French Open 2021 champion is a surprise. The latest first-time women’s singles Grand Slam champion, the unseeded 25-year-old mounted an unexpected, yet extraordinarily composed, run to the trophy with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final.
The number five has an interesting connection to the newly-crowned French Open champion.
The world No 33 was playing just her fifth main draw at a Major. This was just the third Grand Slam she has made the direct cut for after losing in qualifying 15 times since 2014. She has never played a singles main draw match at Wimbledon or US Open so far.
This makes her a very, very unexpected winner.
But the former doubles world No 1 also has five Grand Slam titles in doubles. She won French Open and Wimbledon 2018 with Katerina Siniakova and has three straight mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open.
This makes her an experienced campaigner at the final level.
At Roland Garros, where the last five women’s titles have been won by first-time champions, this unusual combination of factors meant we had another new winner. But one who has shown enough signs that she...
