French Open Live: Live score and updates of the women’s singles semi-finals from Roland Garros.
Barbora Krejcikova will face Maria Sakkari in the women’s second semi-final at the French Open. AP
One point to start with, and Krejcikova really looks like she is working her way back into that second movement. However, it doesn’t have much margin for error. Sakkari is pushed to her limits on this point and ultimately fails due to Krejcikova’s ability to dictate a rally. Even so, not everything is perfect from Krejcikova, she makes a mistake on the forehand. 30-30. Krejcikova is aiming for a backhand winner, and he is counted as out. Krejcikova doesn’t look that confident, but the referee confirms he’s on the wrong side. Sakkari now has a setpoint. You can’t convert, it’s a non-enforced error. Ace from Sakkari, and she has advantages. She misses a shot, however, and we’re down to two again. Krejcikova hits a long backhand and Sakkari has a third set point and advantage. She takes the second set! Krejcikova races towards the net, but Sakkari sees her coming and her strong backhand cannot be returned.
Great rally for the first point and ends with a mistake by Sakkari, who throws a forehand into the double lane. 0-15. Sakkari makes it 15-15 with a backhand winner, which was a great combination she just hit Krejcikova with. Ah, a double fault from Sakkari and it’s 15-30. Her first serve was just wide, and she went over to look at it, but couldn’t see anything unusual. Oh, Krejcikova has two set points! Sakkari strikes for a long time. Krejcikova wins the first set! She survived some difficult times and wins as the winner.
That backhand really let Zidansek down today. She misses another one, and Pavlyuchenkova wins the first point. Pavlyuchenkova then makes the 30-0 with a thundering cross-court backhand winner. Just two points away from a win, she makes a terrible mistake and gives Zidansek a glimmer of hope. 30-15. Oh, excellent serve! Very, very quickly, and Zidansek could only watch her sail back a long time. Two match points for Pavlyuchenkova. SHE’S THROUGH THE FINAL! YOUR FIRST GRAND SLAM FINAL! What a victory for the Russian! Zidansek had a great tournament after failing the first round in all of her previous Grand Slam appearances, but she just wasn’t good enough today.
Okay, what’s Pavlyuchenkova now in her locker? Can she take the break and wrap up this setup? The first point goes to Zidansek, thanks to a winner, but she terribly misses a shot on the second point to give it to Pavlyuchenkova. Pavlyuchenkova then scores another point with a brilliant counter-forehand that forces Zidansek into a mistake. Zidansek misses a first serve and her second serve is not great, which allows Pavlyuchenkova to lose control of the rally and force it to make a mistake. Pavlyuchenkova has two set points. Zidansek missed another first serve. Oh no, the Slovenian came under pressure, she made a double fault. Pavlyuchenkova takes the first set after 52 minutes.
Aaaand we’re gone! Pavlyuchenkova will serve after Zidansek has won the litter and decided to keep it. One mistake by any player to get things started and it’s 15-15. Pavlyuchenkova then creates a wonderful double combination with a wide serve and a cross-court backhand winner. 30-15. The first real rally of the game comes at the closest point and Pavlyuchenkova wins after a shot from Zidansek. Two mistakes from Pavlyuchenkova now and we’re on two. Early pressure from the Slovenian. She takes the advantage with a firmly attached forehand on the line. We’re back on Deuce now. Pavlyuchenkova missed her first serve. Her second serve is not great and Zidansek is putting pressure on her to get an advantage again. Pavlyuchenkova then misses another shot and it’s a very, very early break!
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the French Open. We’re concentrating on the women’s singles semi-finals today. Order of play:
We saw two incredible women’s singles semi-finals, and after all of today’s action we have our finalists Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Barbora Krejcikova! But come and see us tomorrow, because we’ll be right back and bring you the latest updates and more from the men’s singles semi-finals! Until then, goodbye and good night!
Barbora Krejcikova speaks after the game: I’ve always wanted to play a game like this. When I was younger and played juniors, I always wanted to. Such a challenging match, we both did so well, but unfortunately only one can win. Even if I lost, I would be proud of myself because I really fought. That’s the most important. Fight.
Once again, Maria Sakkari will serve to stay in the game. Sakkari draws the first blood in the game when Krejcikova hits a return into the net. Krejcikova passed the levels with a beautiful backhand winner across the board. A nice volley from Sakkari leaves Krejcikova stranded on the net, and the score is 30-15. Oh, it’s out of this world! Krejcikova nails an upside-down backhand and she tosses it into the corner of the square. Nice stuff! 30-30. Ooh, double fault from Sakkari, and Krejcikova has another match point, her fourth match point. Can she finally complete the competition? Sakkari’s forehand means long! Is that it?? No waiting. The umpire is out of his chair and he says it is on the line. Hawkeye shows it was outside. If Krejcikova loses from now on, it will be a farce. Anyway, we’ll play the point all over again. Sakkari wins it this time! It’s two. Krejcikova hits long! Advantage Sakkari! Great defense of Sakkari. SAKKARI IS BIG AND WE’RE BACK AT DEUCE. What a great job of Krejcikova composing himself. Okay, Sakkari hit a long way and the referee agrees. Advantage Krejcikova. And match point # 5. KREJCIKOVA HAS THEIR FIRST GRAND SLAM FINAL! Maria Sakkari really did her best, and it was a hell of a competition, but after all, it’s the Czech star who prevails. That is cash benefit!
Krejcikova serves and Sakkari wins the first point. Somehow these spectacular athletes find new reserves of energy after three full hours of fighting! Krejcikova strikes back with a point. 15-15. Sakkari hits a forehand in Doppelgasse. Another mistake made by Sakkari, 40-15. This was also hit just above the line. Sakkari shoots a return into the net and Krejcikova takes over.
Krejcikova hits a long backhand. 15-0. Oh sweet blow from Krejcikova, it seems like she really increased her level of aggression. She sends a forehand that races along the line and past Sakkari. Sakkari cooks up a shot, and now Krejcikova has the upper hand. Ah, another poor lady! A bit of moonball tennis is followed by a shot from Sakkari into the net, but she can’t volley out in time. Krejcikova has two match points. Sakkari missed her first serve. Her second serve is okay and Krejcikova is long in the resulting rally. No matter who wins, this was a wonderful competition. Oh, brave backhand winner from Sakkari! She really rose and took matters into her own hands. Two! Sakkari missed her first serve. Krejcikova gets incredibly lucky on the second serve when her second leg hits the top of the net and falls on Sakkari’s side. Another match point. Could this be the one? No Sakkari smashed an ace on the T, it was 177 km / h behind this scorcher. Two. Sakkari Profits With An Overhead Smash! Krejcikova strikes for a long time and we carry on!
Krejcikova wins the first two points, one with an excellent shot placement and the other with an ace. Sakkari then hits a return far and she seems really annoyed with herself. Oh, that was a terrible shot from Sakkkari, it hits the net even though she had more than enough time to think about her shot. Stop for Krejcikova!
Sakkari takes the first point, but then makes a mistake and sends a long shot. 15-15. Ooh, excellent forehand from Sakkari, she almost finds the baseline. Big mistake by Krejcikova, she hits a long way into double. We are on the line. Sakkari stops! No tiebreak at the French Open, so we could have a little more action in store.
Double fault by Krejcikova, the second serve was initially considered okay, but knocked over by the referee. Sakkari hits a long backhand. 15-15. Another missed backhand from Sakkari that hits her into the net. 30-15. Sakkari’s backhand lets her down at the moment, she hits another long one. 40-15. Can hold Krejcikova and take some pressure off her shoulders. Great tennis from Krejcikova that forces Sakkari to make mistakes! She holds the serve and now Sakkari has to serve to stay in this match.
Okay, then Maria, what are you going to do for us? The first point of the potentially decisive game is towards Krejcikova. Sakkari met that for a long time. Another missing forehand from Maria Sakkari, she just puts a little too much juice in and sends it an inch too far. Krejcikova then misses a backhand, it hits the net. This is intense stuff! Sakkari looks excited. She sends a serve in the middle and the ball flies like a cannon! Serve huge. 30-30. Sakkari then buries a forehand in the net. Krejcikova has an important stopping point. IMPRESSIVE! A thundering cross-court backhand winner from Sakkari does it in twos. Oh no, Sakkari tried to be cute and she missed her dropshot. Another stop for Krejcikova. Sakkari missed her first serve. Ger second serve is fine. Both players play one moonball at a time, and then Krejcikova manages to catch Sakkari with a nice backhand! We’re back to serve in this incredible match!
Oof, great backhand winner from Krejcikova. She cannot afford to be broken now, it is now or never for her. She misses a forehand after Maria Sakkari’s great defensive work. Another big point for Sakkari, Krejcikova’s attempted backhand down the line flies for a long time! Sakkari made a mistake, it’s 30-30 now and it’s incredibly tense. What else does Krejcikova have in her tank? She cuts the top of the net and the ball falls back on her side! Match point Sakkari. OH WOW! Nerves of steel from Krejcikova, she forces Sakkari to send praise in her direction, and she hits a commanding backhand to do it in twos. Advantage Krejcikova! A couple of excellent points and she is still alive in this competition. Sakkari strikes for a long time and Krejcikova survives! Sakkari will serve for the game.
For the sixth time in a row, a first champion is crowned at Roland Garros. In the preliminary round there were six first-time quarter-finalists out of eight, and now, for the first time in the Open Era, we have four first-time semi-finalists at Roland Garros.
One of Maria Sakkari, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Barbora Krejcikova and Tamara Zidansek will be the Raise the trophy. But before we get that far, they have to pull off the last four, in which Pavlyuchenkova against Zidansek and Krejcikova against Sakkari.
Sakkari is the top-ranked player among the four in 18th place in the world, 67 places ahead of Zidansek, the first Woman representing Slovenia, which has reached the semi-finals of a slam.
At 29 years old, Pavlyuchenkova, a junior No. 1, is in her 52nd attempt in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam. She identified a strong tournament favorite, Aryna Sabalenka, before sending Victoria Azarenka to pack.
Zidansek entered the tournament with a 3-8 Grand Slam record with two first-round exits in Paris. She started the tournament with an announcement victory against the 2019 US Open winner, Bianca Andreescu.
Sakkari is not a new name for the WTA Tour and goes deep into a tournament. But this is her first foray past the fourth round and it came in a convincing way. She defeated the 2020 French Open finalist Sofia Kenin and then defending champion Iga Swiatek. She is the first Greek woman to reach the quarter-finals and then the semi-finals of a tennis major.
Krejcikova, the 2018 French Open doubles champion, has two wins after adding her singles title to her collection. Cared for by the legendary late Jana Novotna, Krejcikova had not won a single Grand Slam match before the Australian Open last year. In her run she beat Elina Svitolina, Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff.
Changed date:
June 11, 2021 12:19:07 AM IST
KEYWORDS:
Roland Garros is still not quite as full as it was before the pandemic, but on Sunday Roland Garros was again bubbling with tennis, cheers and sun-drenched joys as this year’s tournament started off with some color in his cheeks compared to the boring edition last year took place in the autumn cold.
Stefanos Tsitsipas will probably reach his first Grand Slam final, with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the other half of the draw.
Sign up for a weekly curated briefing on key strategic matters from around the world.
Keywords:
