Two final recaps to wrap up all the loose ends before the final "Decade's Best" rankings for Roland Garros...
The sport's embodiment of resilience, Simona Halep and her long quest for a slam title finally came to a triumphant and affecting conclusion in her fourth major final, and her third in Paris in five years. After a career filled with near-misses, marathon matches and crushing defeats that had left her either heartbroken, physically spent or mentally exhausted (and often a combination of all those), Halep cemented her legendary status in Romanian sport by becoming the first from her nation to win a major title since Virginia Ruzici (her business manager) in 1978. Naturally, after having previously lost leads during her unsuccessful attempts, she dropped the 1st set vs. Sloane Stephens here and then staged a comeback from a break down in the 2nd to win in three.
In winning the Romanian became the first player to beat three slam champions in the QF (two-time major winner Kerber, who'd soon go on to win Wimbledon for #3), SF (reigning Wimbledon champ Muguruza) and final (reigning U.S. champ Stephens) to win a major title since Justine Henin, Halep's idol, did it at the 2007 U.S. Open. Her win made her the sixth woman to win both the junior and women's singles titles at Roland Garros.
While Stephens didn't win the title, it marked her second appearance in a slam final in the span of three majors. Returning from foot surgery, she'd put on a heated summertime run in North America in '17 and stormed to her maiden slam title at the U.S. Open. After having reached the 4th Round in Paris four straight years from 2012-15, Stephens' result came after having not played RG since 2016.
She'd had to escape an early round deficit against Camila Giorgi to do it, surviving the Italian serving for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the 3rd set of their 3rd Round encounter before winning 8-6.
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What a difference a year makes.
Back in Paris a year after winning her maiden slam title, Alona Ostapenko became the first defending champ in Paris to exit in the 1st Round since Anastasia Myskina in 2005 (and it happened on Day 1 on the opening Sunday...so NONE had ever exited so quickly).
The #5-seeded Latvian had trouble holding serve right from the start against Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova. She would continually get the break back in the set, but would then be unable to avoid almost immediately giving it away again. After dropping the 1st set at 7-5, Ostapenko took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd, but soon fell behind a break at 3-2. The two traded breaks again in games 6 and 7 until Kozlova finally pulled away, even while dealing with a nasty blister on her heel, for a 7-5/6-3 win. Ostapenko had 48 unforced errors to just 13 winners.
For Kozlova, in just her second tournament back after cracking cartilage in her right knee at Indian Wells, it was her first career Top 30 win, and her second slam MD victory (w/ '17 U.S.). Ostapenko would go on to lose 1st Round matches in WD and MX, as well... then rebound with a semifinal run at Wimbledon.
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An unseeded Serena Williams, now a mother to a nine-month old daughter, finally played in her first slam since winning the 2017 Australian Open while secretly pregnant. In her first competition in Paris since losing the '16 final to Garbine Muguruza, she reached the Round of 16, defeating two seeds. Set to play Maria Sharapova in their first match up since the '16 AO quarterfinal after which the Russian had tested positive for meldonium, Williams withdrew with a pectoral muscle injury, the first singles walkover in Serena's grand slam career.
The 2018 event also served as the site of the return of two-time RG champ Sharapova, who'd missed the event the past two years due to suspension and injury (and a lack of a WC from the FFT). She produced the first QF run in a major since her return, which included a comeback from 3-0 down in the 3rd set in a 1st Round match against Richel Hogenkamp. Sharapova eventually lost to Muguruza in their first meeting in four years.
Meanwhile, Venus Williams was upset in the 1st Round by Wang Qiang. She was the first seed to fall in the event, and it gave her back-to-back 1st Round exits in majors for the first time in her career (following a '17 season that saw her put up RU-4r-RU-SF results in the slams at age 37, her best full-season combined results in majors since 2002).
The 6-4/7-5 victory was Wang's first career Top 10 win. She'd notch three more by the end of the season.
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As always at slam times, certain players stepped up for the first time on the big stage.
Swashbuckling 21-year old Russian Dasha Kasatkina, the '14 RG girls champ, reached her maiden slam QF, notching a win over #2-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the Round of 16 in a 7-6/6-3 win in which the Dane had served for the 1st set and led 4-2 in the TB, then saw the match suspended due to darkness at 3-3 in the 2nd.
30-year old Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu, once a top junior who had seen injuries nearly end her professional career, finally recorded her first slam MD win in the RG 1st Round over Vania King, and later upset #4 Elina Svitolina to reach the Round of 16. Shoulder and knee injuries had taken Buzarnescu off tour for so long a time that she was able to earn her Ph.D in Sports Science in 2016 while she was away from the game.
After being 0-for-16 in WTA qualifying attempts in her career (0-of-8 at majors), Buzarnescu had made her Top 100 debut at age 29 (the oldest on tour since '07) and finally made her tour MD debut (as a qualifier, finally) at the '17 U.S. Open. After her RG run as the #31 seed, the Romanian won two MD matches at Wimbledon and claimed her maiden tour title in early August in San Jose. The following week in Montreal, days after having made her Top 20 breakthrough, her season come to an abrupt end with a serious ankle injury in Montreal while playing Svitolina.
Elsewhere, 22-year old Maria Sakkari became the first Greek to reach the Roland Garros 3rd Round since 2003.
And #12 Angelique Kerber belatedly avenged her '16 1st Round loss at RG to Kiki Bertens by taking out the Dutch #18 seed in the 3rd Round, ultimately advancing to her first QF in Paris since 2012. A month later, the German would win career slam #3 at Wimbledon, leaving RG as the her only missing piece in a potential Career Slam.
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What a difference a year makes. Part 2.
Sometimes one year's results at a slam informs what is to come. Sometimes not.
At Roland Garros in 2018, Johanna Konta and Marketa Vondrousova both lost in the 1st Round. A year later, they'd meet in the semifinals in Paris. The other semifinal included Amanda Anisimova, a 2016 RG junior finalist who'd only played one slam women's MD match (at RG a year earlier) in '18.
In the 2nd Round, #17-seeded Ash Barty, who hadn't yet reached a slam Round of 16, met an *unseeded* Serena Williams (the first time Serena had been on the "lesser" end of such a match-up in a major since 'the '07 AO). Williams won 3-6/6-3/6-4, winning the first three-set match in her comeback after "flipping a switch" when down 6-3/1-1 to the Aussie.
A year later, Barty would win the women's title.
Come 2018, the last breaths were plainly visible of the 2010's great Italian surge, which had started in Paris with Francesca Schiavone's 2010 title run.
35-year old Roberta Vinci called it a career two weeks before the start of play in Paris in '18, joining the slam-winning Flavia Pennetta in retirement. Former RG finalist Sara Errani, 31, lost in the 1st Round to Alize Cornet after squandering a set and 2-0 lead against the Pastry. The only younger Italian woman of note in the draw, Camila Giorgi, reached the 3rd Round, but after twice failing to serve out the match fell to Sloane Stephens in an 8-6 3rd set.
Meanwhile, 37-year old Schiavone's slam career came to a quiet end, largely because no one *knew* that it had ended. Ranked #454, and after having made her way through qualifying to extend her RG MD appearance streak to eighteen years, Schiavone fell in two tie-break sets in the 1st Round to Viktoria Kuzmova. After she'd been upset when it was erroneously reported by Roland Garros media that she'd announced her retirement in 2016 (she was given a standing ovation as she left the court, with Kristina Mladenovic joining in after having posted a win in the match), Schiavone had been coy about her decision ever since. Everyone knew the end was *possible*, but without official word nothing was planned to commemorate it with any sort of farewell moment.
Schiavone played just one match during the grass season, then a month later went to Gstaad and faced Samantha Stosur on clay. After having lost to Schiavone in the '10 RG final, the Aussie won 6-3/6-2. It turned out to be Schiavone's final match, as once the U.S. Open began more than a month later she teased on social media that she'd be in New York to make a live announcement during the tournament. It turned out to be that her playing career had already ended, though no one had noticed. She announced plans to coach (and acknowledged the dream of one day coaching a slam winner just like herself), and briefly worked with Caroline Wozniacki during the '19 clay season.
Svetlana Kuznetsova fell in the 1st Round to Garbine Muguruza, her first one-and-out appearance in Paris since her debut in the event in 2003. It was her sixth straight loss to the Spaniard.
Meanwhile, after reaching two semifinals in three years in Paris, Timea Bacsinszky missed the event due to wrist surgery. Aga Rawanska, too, was absent due to injury, ending her string of 47 consecutive MD appearances in majors. She would retire at the end of 2018. And Lucie Safarova, a singles finalist in '15, played her final RG singles match in '18, a 2nd Round loss to countrywoman Karolina Pliskova. Safarova would play one doubles match at RG in '19, then officially announce her retirement from tennis.
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Five years after they'd won the RG girls doubles title, Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova claimed their maiden WD slam crown together in Paris, defeating three seeded teams -- #9 Bertens/Larsson, #3 Klepac/Martinez-Sanchez and #2 Hlavackova/Strycova -- before winning in the final over Eri Hozumi/Makoto Ninomiya.
The winners of Roland Garros, Wimbledon and U.S. Open junior doubles titles consecutively in '13, the Czech pair followed up their RG win by taking the Ladies crown at Wimbledon, too.
Despite losing in the 1st Round, Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina became the new doubles co-#1's after the tournament, but Krejcikova/Siniakova would ultimately finish the season atop the rankings.
Venus & Serena Williams played in the women's doubles competition at RG for just the second time since their '10 title run, falling in the 3rd Round. It was just the fifth time they'd played in Paris, with their first time being their maiden slam WD title run in 1999 before either had won a singles major.
In the Mixed doubles, Latisha Chan teamed with Ivan Dodig to defeat Gaby Dabrowski & Mate Pavic. Dabrowski/Pavic had won the '18 Australian Open crown, and Dabrowski was the defending champ in Paris (winning in '17 with Rohan Bopanna). It was the first career slam MX title for Chan, who'd won the U.S. Open doubles with Martina Hingis the previous season.
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If you believe age is just a number, then why should it matter more than just that?
— Mouratoglou Tennis Academy ?? (@MouratoglouAcad) June 9, 2018
Congratulations to @CocoGauff on winning the 2018 Girls' @rolandgarros title! ??#RG18 pic.twitter.com/buMTdXYrCc
15-year old Coco Gauff becaame the second straight U.S. winner of the Roland Garros girls title, with the #16 seed defeating unseeded Caty McNally in the fourth all-Bannerette slam junior final in the last five majors.
McNally had taken down a virtual (eventual?) murderers' row of opponents to reach the final, including #1 seed and AO girls champ Liang En-shuo (3rd Rd.), eventual '18 U.S. Open junior champ Wang Xinyu (QF) and soon-to-be Wimbledon girls champs Iga Swiatek (SF, saving a MP), who'd go on to reach the women's Round of 16 in '19. McNally & Swiatek went on to take the doubles title.
Gauff had advanced past Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez in the semis (LAF would win the girls crown a year later). In July, she would become the youngest ever junior #1.
Japan's Yui Kamiji came to Paris as the #2-ranked wheelchair player in the world, having lost the top spot to Diede de Groot in March. By successfully defending her RG singles crown with a 2-6/6-0/6-2 win in the final over #2 de Groot, Kamiji managed to hold off the total immersion of the young Dutch star as the WC game's most dominant player, reclaiming her #1 ranking by extending her singles winning streak to seventeen matches since losing to de Groot in the Australian Open final in January.
It was Kamiji's sixth career slam singles crown, and third in Paris in five years.
Kamiji and de Groot returned later in the day to contest the doubles title. De Groot managed to not go home empty-handed, joining with fellow Dutch player Aniek Van Koot to defeat '17 champs Kamiji & Marjolein Buis 6-1/6-3.
De Groot reclaimed the #1 ranking during the grass season and has rarely, if (really) ever, looked back.
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FASHION REPORT: Serena Williams garnered as many headlines for what she was wearing as for what happened on the court. No wonder. Her shoes with built-in ankle braces were quite intriguing...
Just kiddin'. Of course, *the* big controversy was the skin-tight black "cat suit" Williams wore...
Naturally, it drew the attention/ire of FFT president Bernard Giudicelli, who expressed a desire for a change to the tournament's dress code that would "impose certain limits." Williams' outfit, he said, "will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place."
For her part, Williams said the suit made her feel "like a superhero," and that she "feels like this suit represents all the women that have been through a lot mentally, physically, with their body to come back and have confidence and to believe in themselves. I definitely feel like it is an opportunity for me to inspire a whole different group of amazing women and kids."
Returning from having given birth to daughter Alexis Olympia the previous September and having recovered from a pulmonary embolism (a longtime problem for her) that almost caused her to die while giving birth, the full-length outfit was designed with Williams' particular health concerns in mind, as it was intended to protect against blood clots.
Sister Venus' attire was less controversial, but nearly as unique...
Meanwhile, Elina Svitolina's mysterious tattoo with "personal" meaning was playing peek-a-boo (for the first week, at least... then it was the Ukrainian herself who disappeared)...
That championship feeling for Simona Halep. pic.twitter.com/E76DyLT243
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) June 9, 2018
Over the sport's history, tennis has routinely produced players whose career journeys have resembled the path of the legendary daredevils who would get themselves shot out of a cannon. They fly far, fast and so suddenly that not only is everyone else stunned by their precocious accomplishments but, sometimes, so are they. A few of those players even come to *expect* such success, having never known anything else. Imagine that. We know it's true. We've seen it happen quite often, in fact. Some handle the celebration of *them* with aplomb, while others don't. But having blown through a door without ever really having been faced with being "locked out" of anything, they're presented with the early present of quite possibly being able to avoid the sort of dark passages where personal doubt can so easily lurk, and consume their already-attained dreams.
Simona Halep was most definitely not one of those players.
Some players, on the other hand, are made to wait. To work. To slog. To climb. To crash. To get back up again. To get knocked down once more. Some of those sort of players, in the end, never fulfill their greatest dreams and/or expected "destiny." But those that do are bestowed not only with the honor of lifting a grand slam trophy, but they're also rewarded with the even more significant, well-earned knowledge about just how hard it is to do it. Or to even get the chance. Once, twice, thrice or, for some, four times or more. But no matter how many chances that sort of player may get, *nothing* is assured. Nothing is going to simply be *given.* They know it. They've lived it. And so they go back to work.
Being made to live with such a harsh reality, though it may not be a fatal condition, over time becomes a load to bear that can become heavier and heavier. Some collapse under the weight of it all. After having been stopped just short of their career goal on multiple occasions, a cruel, frustrating and often heartless pattern which sometimes plays out for years at their expense, some may lose the will and stomach necessary to continue the fight. They may secretly begin to fear the opportunity they once strove for, not wanting to suffer the same fate yet again. Eventually, they could even cease being angry or frustrated when they come up short. It spares them the (even greater) pain that may have awaited them around the next corner.
Simona Halep was most definitely not one of those players, either.
Still others choose to muster the resiliency to pick themselves up again, put on a brave face in order to cope with the familiar pain, and then begin the process all over again, hoping for a different result the *next* time, or maybe the *next*, and if not then, then quite possibly the *next* time after that, whenever (or if) it might come. Thus, if the moment of action should some day arrive, the simple act of finally raising one's arms in triumph is not only one of elation, but also relief. Near incredulity, even. But also, finally, and most importantly, satisfaction.
Simona Halep became one of *those* players today in Paris.
Playing in her fourth career slam final, and third at Roland Garros since 2014, #1-ranked Halep came into her match against #10-seeded Sloane Stephens with not only her own checkered past -- three three-set losses in finals, a blown set-and-a-break lead a year ago in Paris against Alona Ostapenko, and a warrior-like effort this past January that nonetheless came up one victory short of completion in Melbourne -- but also the hopes and dreams of an entire nation on her mind. Perhaps no player has a more extensive (and boisterous, to say the least) traveling band of countrymen & women in her corner than Halep, likely the greatest player that Romania has ever produced, but her desire to achieve her own dream *and* make her nation proud was still missing the legacy-defining major title run that would end the country's 40-year slam drought. The last Romanian to be crowned a slam champ was Virginia Ruzici, Halep's mentor and manager, who won in Paris in 1978. Halep's junior title run in Paris a decade ago had made Roland Garros her most favored event, and her idolization of four-time RG winner Justine Henin (the two crossed paths during the week), as well as her own triumphs and failures on the terre battue in recent years, all have served to inextricably tie the Romanian to this particular slam. To win here would be everything. To lose here again would be, again, another devastating obstacle to overcome.
Up love/30 on Stephens' serve a game later, she got no closer as Sloane finally held serve for the first time in the 3rd set. But rather than beat herself up over seeing the closure of a *small* opening to end things there, she went back to work. Halep fired an ace (her first in the match) to take a 30/15 lead, then completed a smash at the net to reach match point.
In the end, there was no drama. In fact, the finish was quick. Stephens netted a forehand return shot and, just like that, Halep's career-long series of grand slam nightmares and neverending near-misses was over. Her 3-6/6-4/6-1 victory lifted the burden of the hopes of millions of her fellow Romanians from her shoulders, and cleared away the remaining cobwebs, scar tissue and scratchy feelings at the base of her own soul. She'd done it. Finally, she was the Roland Garros champion. The relief on her face was soon replaced by a brief version of disbelief, then satisfaction over her hard-earned accomplishment.
The moment @Simona_Halep became Roland-Garros champion!#RG18 pic.twitter.com/S1dDoOhwpp
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2018
Calling Paris her "special city," Halep would soon raise the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen overhead (after Stephens directed her during a little sideline coaching stint during the ceremony), officially lifting whatever cloud hovered over her career, securing a place in the hearts of all who saw her quest play out over the past few years, and settling into the warm cradle of tennis history.
No better feeling ??#RG18 pic.twitter.com/luSwr33Mk2
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2018
The first kiss ????@Simona_Halep#RG18 pic.twitter.com/5Ygrpv7E8M
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2018
As the Romanian anthem played on Chatrier court, Halep rested her cheek on the trophy's lid, as it was evident that the memories of her entire tennis journey flashed through her mind. Through still more chants of "Si-mo-na!" during the ceremony, her 32 slam appearances, four finals, heartbreak, anger, injury, blood, sweat, tears and disappointment were now joined by a recollection of "triumph." It makes all the difference. All the "bad" moments were now mere stepping stones to *this* one.
It's finally yours, @Simona_Halep. ? pic.twitter.com/FKlTWsnetR
— ?? (@smashingaces13) June 9, 2018
In her interview with NBC's Mary Carillo's after the match, Halep admitted that when she was a little girl she "didn't have the courage to dream" of lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen. But courage isn't something that the Romanian lacks these days.
Nearly seven months after the death of Jana Novotna, on the very day that the Czech was honored in a ceremony at Roland Garros, Halep can now be listed alongside the late Hall of Famer, who in so many ways is her "historical doppelganger", as a player once hounded by near-miss efforts in slams until finally overcoming and re-writing her career legacy with a single victory.
As much as it's overdue, more than anything else, it just feels right.
* - "It was a very bad day at the office... I was really pissed off." - defending champ Alona Ostapenko, after her 1st Round loss
* - "I call it like my Wakanda-inspired cat suit. It's really fun. Although we designed it way before the (Black Panther) movie, but still, it kind of reminds me of that. It was comfortable. I tried it on a couple of times before. Hadn't tried it on in a long time, like, over a month. So I was just winging it in the last minute." - Serena Williams
* - "I think my most favorite would be the one that I win." - Naomi Osaka, then #20, on her favorite slam tournament
* - "I have one croissant per day, and if I've been running a lot, two. I just smell butter, and I feel like having one." - Garbine Muguruza
* - "My head won it." - Simona Halep, on her three-set QF win over Angelique Kerber
* - "I was dreaming for this moment since I started to play tennis. I'm really happy that it's happened in Roland Garros in Paris. My special city." - Simona Halep
As the 2010's ended in Paris, the decade concluded just as it had begun, with a maiden slam champion lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen. In 2019, it was a player who got there via an unconventional path, and rose to new career heights on the surface on which *she* least expected to ever find grand success.
Barty's one moment of edge-of-her-seat drama had come in the semifinals in a crazy momentum-shifting match against 17-year old old Amanda Anisimova. After winning 17 of 18 points to open the match and leading 5-0, 40/15, Barty had somehow lost the 1st set, and trailed 3-0 in the 2nd, with the Bannerette having won 17 straight points of her own. But once Barty capitalized on the slight slip in Anismova's game, her path to the title opened wide. She won in three, then dominated another teen, 19-year old Marketa Vondrousova, in the final as the Czech seemed a bit overwhelmed by the moment (and her first experiences on Chatrier Court).
Having taken a voluntary year and a half sabbatical from the sport in 2014-16, during which she played some professional cricket, in order to mature and learn to better handle the stress and expectation inherent in the career of a tennis prodigy, Barty's title run thereby set forth a potential new template for success on the WTA tour, which during the 2010's witnessed quite a few late-blooming stories authored by players who'd found their greatest tennis success after having stepped away (sometimes voluntarily, sometimes when forced to do so because of multiple injuries) in their mid to late twenties and then returned in a more healthy (physical *and* psychological) place.
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In all, Barty's run included just one win over a seeded player (#14 Madison Keys, an '18 semifinalist, in the QF), and three over players aged 20 or younger. This was largely because of a high number of withdrawals, injury-related early exits and upsets involving most of the tour's highest-ranked or biggest-named players.
#6 Petra Kvitova withdrew from the tournament, while two-time winner Maria Sharapova was out injured. #5 Angelique Kerber and #13 Caroline Wozniacki were physically limited and lost in the 1st Round. #4 Kiki Bertens, a pre-tournament favorite, retired in the 2nd Round. #2 Karolina Pliskova (3rd Rd.), #9 Elina Svitolina (3rd), #10 Serena Williams (3rd to Sonya Kenin) and '17 champ Alona Ostapenko (1st, her third in four RG appearances) all fell during the opening week. Meanwhile, world #1 Naomi Osaka's 16-match slam winning streak was ended by Katerina Siniakova in the 3rd Round.
Barty avoided defending champ Simona Halep when she lost to teenager Anisimova in the QF, and #26 Johanna Konta (who rode a surprisingly effective clay spring to the first RG semifinal berth by a Brit since 1983) when she failed to serve out both sets in a straight sets SF loss to Vondrousova.
In total, the semifinalist four were an unexpected quartet: two teenagers, a grass court-loving Aussie and the rare Brit succeeding on clay. They were a combined 3-12 in career matches at Roland Garros before going 20-0 to get within a win of the final.
Three of the four (all but Konta, who reached the stage at her third different major) were first-time slam semifinalists, and for the first time since the 1978 Australian Open none had reached a slam final in their career.
Anisimova was the first player born in the 2000s, male or female, to reach a major semi. The youngest slam semifinalist since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007 (AO), the youngest at RG since 1997 (Martina Hingis), the youngest U.S. player to reach the stage at a major since Venus Williams in 1997 (US), as well as the youngest Bannerette to get so far in Paris since Jennifer Capriati in 1990. With fellow semifinalist Vondrousova (19), it was the first time two teens reached the final four in a major since the 2009 U.S. Open (Wozniacki and Wickmayer) and the first time at Roland Garros since 2001 (Clijsters and Henin).
Vondrousova's appearance in the final was the first in a slam by a teenager since 2006 (Sharapova), and the last in Paris had come in 2007 (Ana Ivanovic, a year before her title run). She came up short of becoming the first Czech to win the RG crown since 1981, but officially added her name to the list of lefty Czechs legitimately seeking glory on the sport's grandest stages. Vondrousova was the sixth unseeded RG finalist in the Open era (only Ostapenko in '17 won it).
Meanwhile, in the first official RG without Poland's greatest player ever (Aga Radwanska), Pole Iga Swiatek (who turned 18 during the event) become the second player (after Anisimova, who first did it at the AO in January) born in the 2000's to reach the Round of 16 at a major; while 18-year old Indian Wells champ Bianca Andreescu recorded her first career MD win in Paris after missing the clay court season with an ailing shoulder. After the three-hour, two-day, back-from-a-set-down win the Canadian withdrew from the tournament, having come back too soon from her injury.
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Former #1 Victoria Azarenka, unseeded in Paris, recorded her first win at Roland Garros in four years. Since her controversial loss to Serena Williams in the 2015 3rd Round, pregnancy, legal issues, injury and a lack of match play had limited her to just two matches in the event over the last three years. But the Belarusian's 1st Round win over '17 champ Alona Ostapenko finally reversed that course. A round later, Azarenka nearly got her first #1 win since 2016 against Naomi Osaka. She led the US/AO champ 6-4/4-2, with a BP for 5-2. After rallying from 5-1 down in the 3rd, at 5-3 Azarenka was a BP away from getting back on serve, only to see an Osaka DF not called nor corrected by the chair umpire. She ultimately went out in what became a 6-3 final set.
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Czech Lucie Safarova's career came to a graceful end at the 2019 Roland Garros. Officially it was via a 1st Round doubles loss on Court 4 on Day 4 with Dominika Cibulkova filling in for the injured Bethanie Mattek-Sands as her partner. The retiring former RG singles finalist (2015) and two-time doubles champ (2015/17) exited as she played her career: as one of the tour's most beloved individuals, both inside and outside the lockerroom.
End of a successful career: @luciesafarova hugs @Cibulkova after playing her last career match at @rolandgarros pic.twitter.com/jAkNPjnEMd
— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) May 29, 2019
.@luciesafarova gettings a big hug from @andreapetkovic after playing her last career match at @rolandgarros pic.twitter.com/AdB9N1Hcqm
— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) May 29, 2019
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2nd Round losses by Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic and youngster Diane Parry meant no French women reached the 3rd Round for the first time since 1986.
While two-time slam finalist Vera Zvonareva appeared in her first MD in Paris since 2011, teenager Anastasia Potapova got the biggest win of her career (handing #5 Angelique Kerber her third 1st Round loss in Paris in four years) in her RG debut, and coutrywomen Anna Blinkova (who rallied from a break down in what threatened to be her final set in the event in four straight rounds in Q/MD play), Ekaterina Alexandrova and Veronika Kudermetova all reached their maiden 3rd Rounds at a slam, no Russians reached the Round of 16 in Paris for the first time since 2000. The absence of the injured Maria Sharapova (missing RG for the third time in the final four years of the 2010's) and early losses by '09 champ Svetlana Kuznetsova (1st Rd. for the second straight year), '18 quarterfinalist Dasha Kasatkina (2nd) and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (1st) contributed to the end of the streak.
Perhaps the most productive player at RG in the decade who didn't win a singles title, former finalist (and three-time semifinalist) Samantha Stosur was knocked out in the 2nd Round by Alexandrova. It was the 35-year old Aussie's worst finish in Paris since 2008. But, keeping to her Zelig/Forrest Gump-like tradition of being positioned *this* close to history throughout the decade, she was singled out by fellow Aussie Barty for praise in her on-court post-match interview after winning the singles title.
Italy's historic run at Roland Garros during the decade, which began in 2010 with Francesca Schiavone becoming the first Italian women to win a major title, ended with zero Italians in the 2nd Round in Paris for the first time since 1982. The only Italians in the MD were qualifiers Jasmine Paolini and Giulia Gatto-Monticone, who both lost in the 1st Round in their slam debuts.
For her part, Schiavone ended the decade watching from the sidelines as a physically limited #13-seed Caroline Wozniacki, who'd hired the Italian as a coach for the clay court season (only to then struggle with injury and barely get to utilize her expertise), lost in the 1st Round to Kudermetova. It was the Dane's fourth 1r/2r exit in six RG appearances since 2013.
Schiavone had beaten Wozniacki in the QF en route to her RG title in 2010. The two met five times after that match, all won by Wozniacki, with the last match having been played in 2011, long before Schiavone's 2018 retirement.
Two years removed from her QF collapse against Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina ended the decade still having not reached the second week in Paris since the defeat. Nursing a knee injury all spring, the Ukrainian lost in the 3rd Round to Garbine Muguruza. She's the only player in WTA history with 13+ tour singles titles but zero slam semifinal appearances.
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Three years after being half (w/ Caroline Garcia) of the first all-French born team to win the RG women's doubles title since the 1920's, Kristina Mladenvoic won her second, this time with Hungary's Timea Babos. The win over Duan Yingying/Zheng Saisai (seeking to become the first all-CHN champs in tournament history) in the final was the second major win for Babos/Mladenovic ('18 AO) and the fifth overall slam title (3 WD/2 MX) in the career of Mladenovic.
The 1st Round exit of defending champs Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova had already opened the door for Mladenovic's rise to the #1 doubles ranking, which she'd been assured of claiming even before the final was contested.
Latisha Chan & Ivan Dodig defended their Mixed doubles title, becoming the first duo to do so in Paris in the Open era (and the first in the tournament since Margaret Court & Ken Fletcher won three straight between 1963-65) by defeating the same team in the final -- Gaby Dabrowski & Mate Pavic -- they had in 2018. Dabrowski was playing in her third straight RG MX final (having won in '17 with Rohan Bopanna).
The most recent successful title defense at the slam level was the 1986-87 Wimbledon run from the brother/sister pair of Cyril Suk & Helena Sukova.
The juniors saw top-seeded Leylah Annie Fernandez become the second Canadian girl to be crowned a slam champion ('12 Wimbledon/Genie Bouchard) as the 16-year old defeated #8-seeded Bannerette Emma Navarro, 6-3/6-2. LAF was runner-up to Clara Tauson in the Australian Open junior final in January, while Navarro made it six different U.S. girls in the RG final over the final four years of the decade.
Navarro returned later and went home with the doubles title, teaming with Chloe Beck to defeat the #4-seeded Hordette duo of Alina Charaeva & Anastasia Tikhonova, 6-1/6-2. Beck/Navarro, like LAF, were runners-up in Melbourne.
Making her Roland Garros junior debut was 18-year old Elli Mandlik, daughter of former girls (1978) and women's (1981) champ Hana Mandlikova. A winner of two previous pro challenger titles in '19, #14-seeded Mandlik lost in the 1st Round to Slovakia's Romana Cisovská.
Armed with a (now) rare one-handed backhand, 16-year old Pastry Diane Parry was granted a wild card into the women's MD and her 1st Round win over Vera Lapko made her the youngest winner at RG since Michelle Larcher de Brito in 2009, and the youngest French player to do so since Alize Cornet in 2006.
Parry (w/ Fiona Ferro), also reached the 3rd Round in women's doubles, knocking off the likes of Aliaksandra Sasnovich/Taylor Townsend and #13-seeds Alicja Rosolska/Yang Zhaoxuan along the way. Seeded #2 in the junior draw, she lost in the 2nd Round to Aussie Annerly Poulos. In the girls doubles as the #1 seed with Natsumi Kawaguchi, Parry came up one round short of the final.
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History was made in the wheelchair competition, as Diede de Groot further earned her "Diede the Great" moniker, sweeping the singles and doubles titles at a fourth consecutive slam. It makes her the first player to ever win all *eight* slam titles in a career, as well as simultaneously reign as the champion in all eight disciplines.
The 22-year old Dutch #1 defeated #2 Yui Kamiji 6-1/6-0 in the singles final to "finally" claim the only slam title she'd yet to win, and won a pair of SF/F doubles matches (w/ Aniek Van Koot) on the same day to take the title there, as well.
A Champion of Roland-Garros.@DiedetheGreat defeats Yui Kamiji 6-1 6-0 for the Women's Wheelchair Tennis title ??#RG19 pic.twitter.com/u4O8Jj7oT1
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2019
In all, the numbers posted to this point by de Groot are downright Vergeerian:
* - the first to complete Career Slam in both singles and doubles
* - the first to simultaneously hold all eight slam s/d titles
* - four straight slam singles titles and five in a row in doubles, sweeping both competitions in four straight majors
* - sixteen straight slam finals, going 6-2 in both singles and doubles
* - 17 finals (8/10 in singles, 9/10 in doubles) in 10 career slam appearances
* - tied for second (w/ Kamiji) for the most WC singles slam titles (6) behind Vergeer (21)
* - half-way to the first 8-event Grand (x2) Slam in a single season in WC tennis history (there were only seven events when Vergeer played, so if de Groot can complete the Grand Slam in just one discipline *that* would be a first-time accomplishment, too)
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FASHION REPORT: the big brands went all out for this Roland Garros, as Nike's bees and flowers designs were worn separately or in combination, with the "faux tuxedo"-like bees outfits coming in both black and white versions...
Though the most striking design was probably that from adidas (with Mladenovic wearing it all the way to the WD title)...
The zebra look was back in some corners, but the similar-but-far-more-equal patterned black-and-white Fila ensemble worn by singles champ Ash Barty was better on the eyes (i.e. it didn't make anyone dizzy or cause inadvertent seizures)...
Meanwhile, Serena arrived with a Nike collaboration with designer Virgil Abloh that included a flowing warmup wrap emblazoned with the words that have come to define her -- "mother, champion, goddess" -- in French. Said Williams, "Those are things that mean a lot to me and reminders for me and for everyone that wants to wear it," adding the idea was to "remind everyone that they can be champions and are queens."
It all sort of reminded *me* of a recent Backspin Academy theater production...
When the wrap came off, a two-piece was revealed...
New tattoos have become part of the many new looks being debuted on the court. One of the more subtle versions (courtesy of Marketa Vondrousova)...
Though maybe the most tangible "fashion statement" wasn't a garment, but a court. The new Court Simonne-Mathieu featured a wrap-around greenhouse that immediately made it the most unique, must-see venue on the grand slam circuit...
Ash Barty's career path to a grand slam championship wasn't a common one. In fact, no one has ever done it quite like her. But for the 23-year old Aussie, she likely wouldn't have been crowned the latest queen of Roland Garros today if she hadn't done it her way.
There were probably more than a few casual fans (you know the ones) tuning into the latter stages of this week's happenings in Paris who were only *then* even becoming fully aware of the 23-year old. Sure, Barty's the only player in the entire sport whose versatility is on full *official* display due to the fact that she's the lone woman or man ranked in the Top 10 in *both* singles and doubles, but it's never been as if she's actively shoved her existence in the face of the sport and its followers. She didn't "stun the world" with an thunderous result on the big stage early in her Generation PDQ career, but has instead built one increasingly larger success upon another. She isn't physically imposing in stature, nor does she have the sort of loud, boastful or extroverted personality that forces eyes to divert and necks to crane whenever she's around. Instead, she's humble, and maybe a bit shy by nature. Her game doesn't pop with the sort of brute power that has carried the likes of Naomi Osaka to slam titles and international name recognition over the past year, either. Barty's game is far more varied and nuanced, and though her competitiveness is clear, a day of steady and studied play is viewed as an unqualified success in her book. No fireworks are necessarily required.
Even the noticeable evolution in on-court confidence that has significantly elevated her standing in the game over the past two seasons has arrived in typically understated fashion. Until now. On the sole basis of her 2019 success, attentions are finally focusing in her direction. Whether or not Barty ever dreamed of inviting so many guests to her party, all of a sudden it's become a crowded affair.
Barty's climb through the ranks has seen her go from child prodigy to Wimbledon girls champ, from being a multiple slam doubles finalist before her 18th birthday to making the decision to take a year and a half sabbatical from the sport for her own peace of mind due to the stress created by high expectations and the tough life of the WTA tour. From taking up a brief cricket career for the Brisbane Heat while she was away to walking back into tennis in 2016 with a refreshed attitude, a rare self-awareness when it comes to knowing how to deal with her chosen life, and possessing a sincere gratitude for everything that would subsequently come her way.
... There's the usual way, and then there's the Ash Barty Way.
It didn't take long for one of Barty's best attributes to become clear in the women's final against unseeded Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova on Court Philippe Chatrier. Due to the conclusion of a men's suspended (and further rain-interrupted today) semifinal, the women didn't walk onto the playing surface until about an hour and a half after the original scheduled start of the match, and the wait likely helped the Aussie win the initial battle of the day. The 19-year old had never stepped onto the court until her practice session there earlier in the day (yet another offshoot of the "disgusting," in the world of French Hall of Famer Amelie Mauresmo, decision by French Tennis Federation to not play the women's semis on the tournament's biggest show court on Friday), and that combined with the enormity of the moment for a player of such a young age -- Vondrousova was the youngest slam semifinalist since 2009, and was seeking to become the first teen to win a major since 2006, as well as the first from her nation to win in Paris since 1981 -- to prevent the lefty Czech from ever truly feeling comfortable.
As the Aussie ran to the net to get to a high bouncing ball, the Roland Garros title was presented on a platter for her enjoyment. She didn't push it away, putting away the final point with an overhead, then turning to her player's box (and coach Craig Tyzzer) and raising her arms in triumph a few feet from the umpire's chair.
Australia’s Greatest ????@ashbar96 is the 2019 Roland-Garros champion, defeating Vondrousova 6-1 6-3.
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2019
?? https://t.co/FJdsaBBRCP#RG19 pic.twitter.com/TMsAdEhHg3
Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust... the one from Down Under had won, due to some big-name absences and upsets, what had turned out to be an upside down slam. Barty's win, though, as so many of her results have done in 2019, set things right-side-up once more.
In her 6-1/6-3 win, Barty was never asked to be great or spectacular. She needed only to be her steady self to emerge with the victory, and on that mission her actions were perfectly by the book.
* - "It is a lot to carry, but so is being Serena Williams." - The One and Only, on her talked-about custom-made on-court ensemble
* - "Draws are meant to fall apart." - Sloane Stephens
* - "Who doesn't love drop shots?" - Anastasija Sevastova
* - "It's just a millimeter. It doesn't make you better or worse player. In the end, it's a bit of luck." - Seveastova, who won a 3:18 3rd Round match over Elise Mertens in which she saved five MP and won 11-9 in the 3rd set, a contest about which she said, "I didn't want the match the end because it was so much fun."
* - "When you step in on the court and you know you play your, I would say idol, you just gotta show your best. ... I live for this win, for these emotions and these moments. I’m going to do everything to experience it again and again and again." - Anastsia Potapova, after defeating Angelique Kerber
* - "I feel like I have improved a lot in this year since I won here. I'm a different person. I'm a better person. And now what it comes, it comes as a bonus. So I'm trying just to give my best every time I step on the court." - Simona Halep
* - "It's just really annoying." - Kiki Bertens, about her 2nd Round retirement
* - "I would just say I’m very disappointed in how I played, and I wish I could have done better. But I can’t turn time, so... You know, it’s weird, but I think me losing is probably the best thing that could have happened. I think I was overthinking this, like, 'Calendar Slam.' For me this is something that I have wanted to do forever, but I think I have to think about it like if it was that easy, everyone would have done it. I just have to keep training hard and put myself in a position again to do it hopefully." - Naomi Osaka, on her 3rd Round loss
* - "Yeah, I did feel some death stares there. But I tried not to over think it and do what I needed to do and do what I do best. I knew I just had to show the crowd, like, 'Listen, Sonya Kenin is in the house.'" - Sonya Kenin, on getting booed by the French crowd for just about every move she made during her win over Serena Williams
* - "I'm in love with this place." - Marketa Vondrousova
* - "I just played the best tennis of my life. I don't know how, and I don't know how I did it, but it just happened." - Amanda Anisimova, after upsetting Simona Halep
* - "I have grown as a person and obviously as a player, as well. But I have had some heartbreaking moments. I've had some amazing moments. But all in all, I have enjoyed every single minute. I think that's been the biggest thing, that I haven't had one ounce of regret. I felt like when I came back, it was my decision, we did it my way, and, yeah, it's paying dividends." - Ash Barty, on her two-year sabbatical and subsequent slam-winning career
* - "I’ve worked so hard. Now the only way to approach it is to enjoy it, embrace it, have fun and try to play with freedom. That’s when I play my best tennis." - Ash Barty
* - "I'm not the only person out here. I have an extraordinary group of people around me." - Ash Barty
