Tennis world erupts after epic 21-year French Open first

Barbora Krejcikova is being hailed across the tennis world after joining an elite group by completing a rare grand slam double at the French Open.

Fresh from claiming her maiden major singles title against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the women's final, the Czech backed up less than 24 hours later to win the doubles title with compatriot, Katerina Siniakova.

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The pair swept aside Poland's 2020 singles champ Iga Swiatek and American veteran Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4 6-2.

It not only made Krejcikova the first woman to complete the 'double' at the same Roland Garros championships since Mary Pierce in 2000 but victory will also elevate her back to the top of the rankings as the world's No.1 doubles player.

The 25-year-old is also just the seventh woman in the history of the Open era to achieve the singles-double feat at Roland Garros, with Krejcikova taking her place in an illustrious list that contains a who's who of women's tennis.

Other players to have won both the singles and doubles trophies at Roland Garros include legends Billie Jean King (1972), Margaret Court (1973), Chris Evert (1974-75), Virginia Ruzici (1978), Martina Navratilova (1982, 1984) and Pierce (2000).

The remarkable accomplishment was not lost on tennis fans, who inundated social media with praise for the Czech star.

Czech duo too good for fledgling pairing

For Krejcikova and her doubles partner Siniakova, it was a third grand slam doubles title after the pair won Wimbledon and the French Open in 2018.

Krejcikova and Siniakova, the No.2 seeds, proved far too accomplished for the raw but exciting pairing of Swiatek and Mattek-Sands, who'd made the final in just their third tournament together.

After racing to a 4-0 lead in the opening set, the Czech mates, who've been a brilliant partnership ever since winning the junior titles together at Roland Garros eight years ago, continued to outplay the Polish-US combination.

Krejcikova and Siniakova, who had been beaten in the final of the Australian Open in February, made no mistake this time with Siniakova, brilliant at the net throughout, cracking the final backhand winner after just 74 minutes.

It completed a wonderful tournament for Krejcikova, who was on court for 23-and-a-half hours all told over the fortnight, having played in 15 matches.

Three weeks ago, Krejcikova had never won a singles title but following her first WTA triumph in Strasbourg, she was left practically in a state of disbelief on Saturday after adding her maiden slam singles title.

She reckoned she had been inspired by the memory of her late mentor and coach Jana Novotna, saying that she felt the former Wimbledon champion, who had died of cancer in 2017 aged 49, had been guiding her throughout the slam.

with agencies

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