Barbora Krejcikova becomes 3rd unseeded women's player to win French Open in 5 years

published 12 June 2021

Underdogs continue to reign supreme on the women's side of the French Open.

For the third time in five years, an unseeded player has taken the crown at Roland Garros. The Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova defeated the No. 31 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who hails from Russia, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, following in the footsteps of Poland's Iga Swiatek last year and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in 2017, both of whom were also unseeded.

It was the first appearance for both Krejcikova and Pavlyuchenkova in a Grand Slam final and, therefore, the former's first win on that stage.

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After the match, Krejcikova paid tribute to her mentor and coach, the late Jana Novotna, a tennis star in her own right who won Wimbledon in 1998.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.