French Open Final: Will Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Barbora Krejcikova seize the moment?
In a battle between two maiden major finalists, who will capture the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen?
WATCH: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova chats with the press after her semifinal victory over Tamara Zidansek.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Barbora Krejcikova
It has been a tournament of firsts on the women’s side, so why not finish with three more of them? This will be the first Grand Slam singles final for the 29-year-old Pavlyuchenkova and the 25-year-old Krejcikova, and it will be the first time the Russian and the Czech play each other. Which doesn’t leave us a lot to go on when it comes to making a prediction.
We don’t know how either will react to the unique pressure of a major final. Krejckova has been here before in doubles, but this time she’ll face the moment alone. She has talked about how nervous she was before taking the court against Sloane Stephens in the fourth round; let’s hope she doesn’t feel something similar on Saturday, because those nerves won’t be as easy to overcome in a final.
Of course, Pavlyuchenkova, a junior prodigy who was the runner-up in the girls’ even at Roland Garros when she was 14, will be entering new territory as an adult as well. As far as their match-up goes, they should offer an intriguing contrast: Pavlyuchenkova will hit with pace and try to power her way through the rallies; Krejcikova will try to change the direction and spin on the ball as often as she can and disrupt Pavlyuchenkova’s rhythm.
It’s hard to say who will perform her role more efficiently in this setting. But Pavlyuchenkova has, on the whole, been the better singles player over the course of her career.
Winner: Pavlyuchenkova