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The squash shot may be a last-resort play, but it’s fun to unleash and spectacular to watch. Federer made it his own, but many other players, especially women, are adopting it.WIMBLEDON, England — “Times have changed,” Roger Federer said this week as he looked back on his early days at Wimbledon. More
Barbora Krejcikova developed her multifaceted game with the help of the former Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, who died in 2017.PARIS — Hand pointing to the sky, the new French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova gave credit where she knew it was due on Saturday.“I hope she’s happy,” Krejcikova said of Jana Novotna, the former Wimbledon champion who died of cancer in November 2017.In Krejcikova’s view, all of “this” — the surprise run to a Roland Garros title — would not have happened without Novotna’s influence on her career at a critical phase: the transition from juniors to the much more selective professional game.It was good fortune that Novotna was from Brno: the same Czech city as Krejcikova. But Krejcikova and her family made their own luck, too. She showed up with her parents at Novotna’s home in 2014 with a letter of introduction and a desire to find a tennis mentor who understood both the micro and macro of what it took to become great.The visit was her mother’s idea, but Krejcikova, then 18 and recovering from a recent illness, made her own case, and Novotna, to her surprise, was receptive.“She was just very nice, very warm,” Krejcikova said on Saturday. “She told me: ‘I have a court on Thursday in this club at this time. If you want to come, you can come. We can look at you, have a hit. We’re just going to see what’s going to come.’”Krejcikova told her that she had been ill.“Jana was like, ‘It doesn’t matter,’” Krejcikova said. “‘If you cannot hit, we can talk.’”Novotna training with Krejcikova in Prague in 2016.Pavel Lebeda/CTK, via Associated PressNovotna agreed to not only counsel her but also coach her and follow her on the circuit. Novotna’s contacts as a longtime leading player meant that Krejcikova had access to some quality hitting partners.“We were playing the legends tournament here at Roland Garros a few years ago, and Jana said, ‘Come hit with this girl I’m coaching,’” Martina Navratilova said on Saturday. “And I thought Barbora had good talent, but you still never think that it’s going to lead to something like this. She didn’t have any obvious weapons, but her brain is her big weapon. She has got the good hands. She has got the variety and then the brain to know when to use it.”Novotna, who died at 49, had variety and a sharp mind, too. She was a graceful mover with a one-handed backhand, committed to attacking the net behind chipped approach shots and then hitting angled volleys and overheads. It was a high-risk, eye-catching game and, like Krejcikova, she excelled in doubles, but her nerves betrayed her in her biggest singles matches through much of her career.In the moment that long defined her, she cracked and lost a big third-set lead in the 1993 Wimbledon to Steffi Graf. There should have been no shame in losing to Graf on any surface, but Novotna knew she had not done her own talent justice, and ended up crying on the Duchess of Kent’s shoulder during the trophy ceremony on Centre Court.Novotna had a happier ending at Wimbledon when she won the singles title in 1998 and accepted the champion’s trophy from the Duchess of Kent. It was Novotna’s only Grand Slam singles title, and it came at age 30 in her 45th Grand Slam singles appearance.Krejcikova took a different path. Though she is 25, she has had most of her success in doubles and may have more when she plays for the French Open women’s doubles title on Sunday with her partner Katerina Siniakova.But this was only her fifth Grand Slam singles tournament, and she handled the inevitable pressure with aplomb, saving five set points in the opening set of her straight-set victory over the 17-year-old American Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals and then saving a match point against Maria Sakkari in the semifinals before fighting through the momentum shifts of a three-set final against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Saturday.“I think Jana, who is well known for the emotional breakdown against Steffi and then winning Wimbledon, would have just been so impressed by Barbora’s composure,” said Rennae Stubbs, the former No. 1 doubles player who knew Novotna well and was another of Krejcikova’s early practice partners on tour. “Throughout the entire tournament, she just never looked stressed, and to be able to do that under these circumstances for somebody who had never gone through something this monumental is pretty extraordinary to be honest.”“I was a little bit panicking; I really wanted to win,” Krejcikova said. “On the other hand, I knew that if I really want to win, I’m just going to put so much pressure on myself that it’s not going to happen.”Benoit Tessier/ReutersThere were rare moments of agitation, including one shout to her player box during Saturday’s final, but Stubbs is correct that Krejcikova’s calm, focused demeanor was the rule at Roland Garros. Her pacing and breathing between points were measured; her gaze quickly went back to her strings or the clay after a point was completed. But she also showed touching flashes of humanity: applauding Gauff’s and Sakkari’s winners at critical phases of both matches.Her march to the final was nowhere near as smooth as it often looked. She felt overwhelmed before playing the American Sloane Stephens in the fourth round, crying before taking the court and speaking with her sports psychologist. She consulted her again before her victory over Sakkari and victory over Pavlyuchenkova. It was all new territory for Krejcikova, who had not been past the fourth round of a major tournament in singles before.“I was a little bit panicking; I really wanted to win,” she said. “On the other hand, I knew that if I really want to win, I’m just going to put so much pressure on myself that it’s not going to happen. We had the conversation about this. She just told me just to go and enjoy. We spoke about how to talk to myself, what to do when I’m going to feel nervous on court, just be happy that I’m actually there, all of this. That I’m already in the finals, it’s a big achievement that nobody really expected, not even me. I didn’t expect it as well.”What also helped was her experience in doubles. She and Siniakova also won their first Grand Slam final together, taking the title at the French Open in 2018 on the same center court where she won on Saturday.Krejcikova thanked Novotna after that victory, too, and on Saturday she reached a much bigger audience with the same message and the same hand pointed to the sky. This time, she received the champion’s trophy from Navratilova, who grew up in the Czech Republic before emigrating to the United States and was close with Novotna.Navratilova has shaped champions’ careers, too. It was at her suggestion that the future No. 1 Maria Sharapova, whom she had spotted at a Moscow clinic, moved to Florida with her father, Yuri, to pursue a tennis career. “It’s a small world, and you will touch many people along the way,” Navratilova said. But she also knows how long the odds are and how many prodigies, even with the right advice, do not make the transition to the highest level.She had agreed two months ago to present the trophy. She said she began watching the singles draw more and more closely as Krejcikova progressed.“I started thinking, Oh, my God, she could get to the final — and then it was, She could win the thing,” Navratilova said with a laugh. “I didn’t tell Barbora. She didn’t know I was doing the ceremony.”Predestined? Navratilova is not so certain, but she, like so many on Saturday, experienced a full-circle feeling as well as mixed emotions.“It was a beautiful victory,” Navratilova said. “But I really so wish that Jana could have been here to see it.” More
Unseeded but the sentimental favorite, Krejcikova defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets to win the women’s singles title in Paris.PARIS — Barbora Krejcikova won the French Open Saturday, beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets.For Krejcikova, 25, of the Czech Republic, the win marked the highlight of a late-blooming but suddenly exploding career, and capped a surprising tournament in which so many of the strongest players withdrew, retired, or were defeated early in the competition. Krejcikova was not seeded at this tournament but was a sentimental favorite, capturing the crowd’s heart with her emotional post-match speeches filled with words of inspiration and tributes to her mentor and role model, the former Czech champion Jana Novotna, who died at 49 in 2017.She has been best known in past years for her prowess in doubles and she will attempt to win that championship Sunday with her partner, Katerina Siniakova. Krejcikova, 25, who was ranked outside the top 100 as recently as recently as last September, has one of the most multifaceted playing styles on the women’s tour. She plays with any number of tricks and spins and possesses a dangerous moonball backhand that bounces high and can pin her opponents deep in the court. Power is not her thing, which makes her unusual in a sport obsessed with hitting hard. But what she lacks in power she makes up for in creativity. In Pavlyuchenkova, 29, she faced a former teenage prodigy who had never made it past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. Despite that frustration, Pavlyuchenkova has displayed remarkable durability, playing in every Grand Slam between the 2008 French Open until the 2020 United States Open. Other than a semifinal appearance in Madrid last month, Pavlyuchenkova’s performances the past six months gave few hints that she would have the run of her career at this French Open. Despite Pavlyuchenkova’s advantages and bigger reputation, Krejcikova beguiled her on the biggest points, playing a form of tennis jujitsu that is rarely seen. More
The unseeded Barbora Krejcikova has advanced to face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the No. 31 seed, in the singles final of the French Open.PARIS — The 2021 French Open will be remembered for its endless surprises. Stars withdrew. Top players lost early.The trend continued Thursday as two long shots surged into the women’s championship match. Elite women’s tennis has been without clear and consistent winners for a while now, but a final between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic was a scenario no one would have predicted.Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 31st, defeated the unseeded Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia, 7-5, 6-3, in the semifinals. Krejcikova, also unseeded, upset the No. 17 seed, Maria Sakkari of Greece, 7-5, 4-6, 9-7, in a match with wild momentum swings and match points on both sides of the net, even one that involved an overturned line call.Pavlyuchenkova, 29, is a veteran, having turned professional in 2005. Krejcikova, 25, is more of a late bloomer, having arrived in 2014. But neither had reached a Grand Slam semifinal before, and it showed as they triumphed despite multiple lost service games in nearly every set and more errors than most players could survive. Yet the effort was enough for each of them, if only barely.“I always wanted to play a match like this,” Krejcikova said through tears when her 3-hour, 18-minute match was finished. “Even if I lost today, I would be very proud of myself, just fighting. In here and also in life, fighting is the most important thing.”There have been just two multiple Grand Slam women’s singles winners in the past four years, the opposite of what has happened in an absurdly top-heavy men’s game, which has been dominated for so long by three of the all-time greats.Women’s tennis more closely resembles golf. At the beginning of a Grand Slam event, dozens of women seemingly have a shot to play deep into the tournament.“There is so much depth,” Tom Hill, Sakkari’s coach, said ahead of the semifinal. “Now it’s first round, second round, you’re playing against top players that can play.”Of the two finalists, Krejcikova is the bigger surprise. Her game is filled with off-speed forehands and sliced backhands. Her service returns tend to be looping backhands. She usually displays limited power and an approach that seems completely out of step with the smash-mouth style that so many women bring to the court today.In Sakkari, Krejcikova faced a gym rat who has worked with a fitness trainer since she was 14 and who prepares for tennis like a world-class sprinter. Sakkari, 25, loves being in the weight room nearly as much as she enjoys being on the tennis court. Heard that old saw about her muscles having muscles? That is Sakkari.Musculature, though, does not win tennis tournaments. Deft shotmaking and surprise can often overcome power.Sakkari struggled with prosperity all afternoon, coughing up an early lead in the first set, then barely surviving the second one after leading by 4-0. But as Sakkari was drawing even and rallying the crowd behind her, Krejcikova headed for a bathroom break that lasted several minutes longer than the usual in-match pit stop. Sakkari took the court alone and complained to the umpire to get things moving or perhaps issue a warning.Sakkari’s power was no match for Krejcikova’s deft shot-making.Christophe Archambault/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWhen play resumed, Sakkari once more took an early lead with a service break, and had match point with Krejcikova serving at 3-5. Krejcikova saved it with a swinging backhand volley, then broke Sakkari’s serve in the next game, forcing her to make a series of errors on long rallies packed with Krejcikova’s deep, lob-like backhands.After nearly three hours, Krejcikova had figured out the winning formula. It took six more games — as Sakkari saved four match points but could not stop over-hitting, making 27 errors in the final set — for the result to become official.On the court after the match, Krejcikova thanked Jana Novotna, a Czech compatriot who struggled for years to win a Grand Slam championship until she finally claimed the Wimbledon title in 1998. When Krejcikova was a teenager, she and her parents asked Novotna for help breaking into tennis. Novotna gave it. She died of cancer in 2017 at 49.“She is watching over me,” Krejcikova said.In the other semifinal, Pavlyuchenkova ended years of frustration. She had come up short in six Grand Slam quarterfinals before prevailing on Thursday in Paris.Pavlyuchenkova provided few hints in recent months that a run of this sort was in the offing. She made the semifinal in Madrid last month but had little else to brag about. She lasted barely an hour at the Australian Open, losing badly to Naomi Osaka, the eventual champion, in the first round.But in her first Grand Slam semifinal, Pavlyuchenkova had the good fortune to face a player ranked 86th in the world.Pavlyuchenkova was hardly in control: She lost her serve twice in the first set, and twice more in the second. But she was far better than Zidansek, a 23-year-old whose inexperience and nerves showed as she lost her serve six times and committed 33 unforced errors compared with 22 for Pavlyuchenkova. Zidansek double-faulted into the middle of the net on set point, and sent a shot she easily could have put away a foot wide on match point.Zidansek had come back from a set down three times during the tournament, and twice won third sets in the equivalent of tennis overtime (9-7 and 8-6) but could not muster the same resilience against Pavlyuchenkova.Pavlyuchenkova was asked Thursday what her younger self might say now that she had finally reached the ultimate match.“What took you so long?” she said.“It’s been a long road,” she continued. “I had my own long special road. Everybody has different ways.” More
The American teenager, playing her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, was frustrated and defeated by the unseeded Barbora Krejcikova.PARIS — It was the first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal for Coco Gauff and Barbora Krejcikova and, frankly, you could tell.There were tight groundstrokes into the net, errant service tosses and multiple double faults, reversals of momentum and fortune.To sum up, there was tension in the sunlight as fans — remember those? — shouted “Allez Coco!” from high in the stands in the Philippe Chatrier stadium.Gauff, the American 17-year-old, received the majority of the support, but she could not quite manage to give the Roland Garros public what it desired. After failing to convert five set points in the opening set, she went on to lose to the unseeded Krejcikova, 7-6 (6), 6-3.It has been one of the most surprising French Open women’s tournaments in history, and the trend deepened as Maria Sakkari upset defending champion Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-4 in Wednesday’s second quarterfinal.Sakkari, a muscular Greek who is seeded 17th, has become a threat to the best: She beat Naomi Osaka in Miami earlier this season on a hardcourt. But Sakkari had not yet broken through at a Grand Slam tournament. She did not crack on Thursday, producing a powerful performance against Swiatek, the 20-year-old from Poland who had not dropped a set at Roland Garros in singles since 2019.Maria Sakkari turned in a powerful performance that upset defending French Open champion Iga Swiatek.Ian Langsdon/EPA, via ShutterstockOn Thursday, Sakkari will face Krejcikova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will play Tamara Zidansek. All four women are making their first appearance in a Grand Slam singles semifinal.Gauff, who was the last American left in singles, finished with 25 winners, 41 unforced errors and one mangled racket after destroying it in anger with three swift blows to the red clay after double-faulting to fall behind by 4-0 in the final set.“I’m obviously disappointed that I wasn’t able to close out the first set,” Gauff said. “To be honest, it’s in the past, it already happened. After the match, Enzo, my hitting partner, told me this match will probably make me a champion in the future. I really do believe that.”Gauff was brilliant at times and bamboozled at others. She lost 15 straight points at one stage in the second set. That was not entirely her doing. Krejcikova, a former French Open doubles champion, has begun to come into her own as a singles player and has a wide array of shots and tactical options, as well as baseline power when she chooses to summon it.But Krejcikova, too, struggled with her nerves on Wednesday. She has been open this week about her efforts to manage the mental strain of making her first deep run in singles at a Grand Slam tournament.Krejcikova consulted with her psychologist before her match against Gauff.Caroline Blumberg/EPA, via ShutterstockBefore her fourth-round match with Sloane Stephens, she said she locked herself in a room used by the physiotherapists to talk to her psychologist. “I was actually crying,” she said. “I just felt really, really bad, and I don’t know why.”She said she and her psychologist had a long discussion. “She told me, ‘If you can overcome this, what you feel right now, it’s going to be a huge win, and it doesn’t matter if you’re going to win on the court or lose on the court, because it’s going to be a personal win.’” It turned out to be a win-win as she played a brilliant match to defeat Stephens, mixing her spins and decisions expertly, just as Gauff played her best match of the tournament when she defeated Ons Jabeur in the fourth round, winning in straight sets without a double fault.But Wednesday was a different day. Gauff double-faulted on the opening point of the match and finished with seven, often catching her service tosses and working to control her breathing. After falling behind by 5-0 in the second set, she did not go through the motions. She kept fighting, holding serve, and with the crowd behind her, saving three match points to break Krejcikova’s serve in the next game and then saving two more as she held serve to close to 5-3.Gauff smashed her racket after she double-faulted to fall behind by 4-0 in the final set. Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesAnother momentum swing still felt possible given both players’ inexperience at this level of a Grand Slam tournament. But Krejcikova held firm in the next game and when Gauff missed her final forehand, she became the second unseeded player to reach this year’s French Open semifinals after Zidansek.“This one will be on my mind for a couple days, for sure,” Gauff said. “I think just reflecting on it, you know, it’s over, so I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, if I did this, if I did that.’ I think in the moment I did what I thought was the best decision and I have to stick on that.”Gauff will start preparing for Wimbledon, which begins on June 28. It is where she burst to prominence in 2019 at age 15 by defeating Venus Williams in her first Grand Slam singles match.Her progress since then has been steady rather than meteoric. There will be more to learn from Wednesday’s setback. But this was a positive clay-court season and tournament for the usually much more poised teenager. She reached the semifinals of the Italian Open and won the singles and doubles titles in Parma. She was seeded 24th in Paris — her first time being seeded at a major tournament — and won four matches without dropping a set.“Her time will come,” said Krejcikova, who, at 25, knows a thing or two about patience. More
#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenOsaka Wins TitleMen’s Final PreviewDjokovic’s RideWilliams’s Future?AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyMixed Doubles, Often Neglected, Crowns Resilient ChampionsAfter a 14-day quarantine in their hotel rooms, Rajeev Ram and Barbora Krejcikova rolled through the draw and claimed victory at the Australian Open.Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and her partner, Rajeev Ram of the United States, each endured a 14-day quarantine when they arrived in Melbourne for the Australian Open.Credit…William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFeb. 20, 2021, 12:21 p.m. ETAfter they arrived in Melbourne, Rajeev Ram and Barbora Krejcikova received notice that passengers on their respective charter flights had tested positive for the coronavirus. The two were among the 72 players then forced to enter a 14-day “hard quarantine” in their hotel rooms, denied the opportunities to go outside and practice that were afforded other players.Roughly five weeks later, Ram and Krejcikova proved their resilience by winning the Australian Open mixed doubles title, beating the Australian team of Matthew Ebden and Samantha Stosur 6-1, 6-4 in the final on Saturday night.“I mean, even though we were in hard lockdown for 14 days and we didn’t have an opportunity to play, after that you just go out there and you do your best,” Krejcikova said. “It’s really amazing what we actually achieved just in these last couple of weeks.”Ram and Krejcikova and their playing partners also made the respective finals in men’s and women’s doubles; Krejcikova lost in the women’s doubles final on Friday with Katerina Siniakova, who was also in hard quarantine; Ram will play in the men’s final on Sunday with Joe Salisbury, who was not.Women’s singles runner-up Jennifer Brady also made her deep run at the Australian Open after 14 days in her hotel room.Mixed doubles in Australia has frequently brought out Krejcikova’s best tennis: She has won the title three years in a row — in 2019 with Ram and last year with Nikola Mektic.As they prepared to reunite on court, Ram and Krejcikova stayed in frequent touch during their isolations. Ram said that was a key to staying positive in the difficult circumstances.“I think we were all in a situation that wasn’t ideal, but the best you can do at that point was check in with your friend, check in with other people that are in the same situation,” he said. “It helps you get through it. For sure, it helped me get through it.”Mixed doubles has been a part of tennis since its origins in Victorian-era garden parties. It remains a popular format at the recreational level, but it has been increasingly scarce on the professional level since the pandemic began.The Australian Open mixed doubles competition was the first such sanctioned event staged since last year’s Australian Open. Even with increased talk of the men’s and women’s tours further collaborating, and after headline-generating moments like Serena Williams partnering with Andy Murray at Wimbledon and playing mixed doubles against Roger Federer in 2019, mixed doubles has been neglected.The Hopman Cup, the annual mixed-team event, was discontinued by Tennis Australia after the 2019 tournament and has yet to find a new home. Both the United States Open and French Open last year decided not to hold mixed doubles events during the pandemic, even though the event didn’t significantly increase the number of people on site compared with the other, larger draws.“It was unfortunate for sure that the other events didn’t have it; I was really excited that this one did,” Ram said. “Was I ever worried it was going to get cut? Maybe. I think when you have situations with governments and different things and capacities and all that, yeah, you are worried, probably.”“I tell you what, I wasn’t worried that the singles was going to get cut,” Ram added. “Definitely these are the first events to go, but I’m glad they were able to pull it off. I hope it continues. I think it’s one of the more fun events to watch, even, as a tennis fan.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More
#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenOsaka vs. BradyWomen’s Final PreviewDjokovic’s RideWilliams’s Future?AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyA Women’s Doubles Champion Says She’s Going SoloAfter Aryna Sabalenka and her partner, Elise Mertens, won the Australian Open, Sabalenka said she was breaking up their team so she could focus on her singles career.Aryna Sabalenka will move into the No. 1 ranking in women’s doubles just as she stops playing it.Credit…Kelly Defina/ReutersFeb. 19, 2021, 9:40 a.m. ETAryna Sabalenka and her partner, Elise Mertens, won the Australian Open women’s doubles final, 6-2, 6-3, over Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova on Friday afternoon at Rod Laver Arena.The win will move Sabalenka to the No. 1 ranking in doubles for the first time, with Mertens close behind at No. 2.But after the title, the second Grand Slam triumph they have won together, Sabalenka said she would no longer play doubles and instead put her “whole focus on singles,” in which she is ranked seventh.“I just want to manage my energy,” Sabalenka said. “When you go out for doubles, you’re still there for competing, to put everything you have. Sometimes it’s not really working well with me.”Sabalenka is the only WTA or ATP player currently ranked in the Top 10 in both singles and doubles. She has been one of the most consistent players at WTA Tour events, where she has won nine singles titles. She reeled off 13 straight wins on tour across the end of last season and the beginning of this one.But at Grand Slam events Sabalenka has fallen far short of her expectations. She has only reached even the fourth round in singles twice in 13 main draw appearances, including at this Australian Open, where she lost, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, to Serena Williams.“It was a great match against Serena — I’m not really happy with the end of the first and third set. I think I could do it better — but I think it was great experience,” Sabalenka said Friday. “It was a great lesson.“I think I’m getting better on the Grand Slams side of the results,” she added. “I just want to keep it up. I just want to try to do something else to make sure I improve my singles.”Mertens, who is ranked 16th in singles, voiced no objection to Sabalenka’s breaking up their dominant team.“It’s her decision, I really respect that,” Mertens said. “Doubles takes some energy away, that’s true. On the other hand, for me, I just like to play matches.“I mean, she can definitely try and we’ll see,” Mertens added. “If she still likes to play doubles, I’m here.”Sabalenka said that not prioritizing doubles had been one of the keys to her success in the discipline.“From my side, I would say I was pretty relaxed on doubles,” Sabalenka said. “I was doing whatever I want to. I didn’t care about winning or losing.”“She didn’t care about me,” Mertens interjected with a laugh.Sabalenka said that though she was more relaxed, being in a second competitive environment was still taxing.“I know that doubles, it’s not that hard, you’re not moving that much,” she said. “It still takes a lot of energy. I just want to save it for singles. I just want to try something different this year and see what happens on the Grand Slams.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More
