Barbora Gregikova in the Roland-Gros final after an epic victory over Maria Chakari

Don’t tell her anymore that she is the first and foremost doubles expert. Not only has Barbora Grijikova never wanted this label despite two Grand Slam titles, but now that she has qualified for the Roland-Cross finals it is her singles career that we will no longer have to talk about.

Especially the way the 33rd player in the world qualified this Thursday against Maria Chakraborty is respectable. Not everything is perfect, far from it (58 unimplemented errors), but the motives are definitely right. In the first round under the sign of extreme tension, the Czech was quickly released.

Sugar jump in the second set

When Chakri was looking for a confrontation without means – the mistake of a hand that never relaxed – Kryzhikova planned to play, maneuver and neutralize her opponent. Sometimes it is too bad if it is necessary to create circles to prevent it from exploiting its natural power. Opposing Koko Kaf, Krezhikova was able to neutralize an opponent who was a pioneer, superior to him in power. Truth be told, it was mostly his ball that went fast.

Stung kept the ball high and split 4-0 in the second set. Will the energy of the crowd be reversed? Although Greece was the equivalent of one set everywhere, Krezhikova showed no real signs of collapse, and the third set was designed to be undecided, as Zachary’s release demanded to be confirmed.

An epic finish

After a very long toilet break from Kryzhikova, Chakri had a good idea to break down quickly. With a score of 5-4 in his favor, Kryzhikova earned a match point saved in his service. The Czechs returned 5-5.

The competition, which until then had been very unequal, entered another dimension. One that the mind counts more than pure technique, you have to forget the fatigue and frustration to get a point higher score than the enemy. Maria Zachary showed the best skills in this area by dropping five match points. But the sixth – stopped by a 53rd direct error – gave the match to Barbora Krezikova, on the verge of seizures and tears.