Australia’s Ash Barty powered her way to a first Grand Slam singles title with a comprehensive win over unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova at the French Open.
The No.8 seed needed just 70 minutes to defeat the 19-year-old 6-1 6-3 in Paris on Saturday.
Barty becomes Australia’s fourth French Open champion, and first since Margaret Court in 1973.
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She raced into a 4-0 lead in the opening set, recovering from a loss of serve to close it out, and a break at the start of the second proved enough despite sterner resistance from Vondrousova in the latter stages.
A fifth break of the match clinched it for Barty, who fired away a smash at the net to seal a “dream” victory.
“It’s remarkable,” Barty said afterwards. “At the moment it’s a bit too much and a bit out there, really.
— Ash Barty (@ashbar96) June 8, 2019
“But it’s amazing. We have done the work, and we tried to put ourselves in these positions. Now that we’re here, it’s just incredible.”
Barty will rise to No.2 in the new world rankings next week, and will head to Wimbledon and the grass among the favourites for another Grand Slam title.
The fact that her first has come on the Parisian red clay has surprised even Barty.
“For the last fortnight, the stars have aligned for me,” she said.
“I have been able to play really good tennis when I’ve needed it. I never dreamt that I’d be sitting here with this trophy here at the French Open.
“I mean, obviously we have dreams and goals as children, but this is incredible.”
Vondrousova could not cap a breakthrough Grand Slam performance with the trophy but left with few regrets after a one-sided final.
“She was just too good today,” Vondrousova said.
“I think she plays amazing match. I didn’t have too many chances today. She just gave me a lesson today.
“It was also windy, so it was a bit different today. But she didn’t let me play my game today. I think she was just better at everything.
“I didn’t really play nervous, but I think she was just too good for me.”
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