By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, June 7, 2019
A gusty wind kicked up a curtain of crushed red brick as Ashleigh Barty gazed through through the dusty haze keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the ball.
Staring down a bleak one-set, 0-3 deficit, Barty stormed back to subdue both Amanda Anisimova and arduous conditions, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3, to reach her first Roland Garros final in wild ride on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Laver: Barty Can Win RG
"The occasion, the conditions, it was pretty brutal out there," Barty said afterward. "Yeah, I mean, I'm just proud of myself the way I was able to fight and scrap and hang in there and find a way when I kind of threw away that first set.
"But at the end of the day, it's an amazing opportunity. Yeah, I think it was just a really challenging day."
The woman who once took a two-year sabbatical from tennis to play pro cricket has returned empowered by perspective, passion and a greater appreciation for the game.
The 23-year-old Barty is the first Aussie to reach the Roland Garros final since Samantha Stosur contested the 2010 French Open final.
"It's amazing. It's been an incredible journey the last three years," Barty said. "It's been an incredible journey the last two weeks. I feel like I have played some really good tennis, some consistent tennis.
"Although that level wasn't there today for the whole match necessarily, it was there when I needed it. And, yeah, I'm just so proud of myself the way we were able to go out there and handle it today. All things considered, we're in a pretty amazing place now."
The 17-year-old Anisimova was "frozen" at the start, but showed her spirit storming back to take the opener.
"I started off pretty rough," Anisimova said. "I mean, I was kind of frozen and I couldn't really get into my game. And then when I was down 5-0, I just tried to keep the ball in the court, and then I went up in that set.
"And then it was just really tough from when I finished the first set, she was playing really well. And it was just really tough to win that match."
Ultimately, Anisimova couldn't overcome the experienced Aussie's ability to alter the heights and spins of her shots.
Blowing a 5-0 lead and two set points against the hard-charging Anisimova, Barty briefly looked down and out against the teenager who snapped Simona Halep's 11-match winning streak in Paris dethroning the defending champion.
"I was 5-love up in probably all of 15 minutes, I think, and didn't really do a hell of a lot to get to that stage," Barty said. "Amanda gave me some cheapies. I felt I put the ball where I needed to, and then I went away from what was working.
"Yeah, it was pretty tough to come to terms with. Probably never done that to myself before, never been in that situation. But I was really happy the way I was able to respond at a set and 3-Love and to really turn the match on its head, even though it wasn't the best tennis in pretty tough conditions. That's probably, yeah, what I'm most proud of."
Facing that one-set, 0-3 deficit, Barty began using her slice backhand more to disrupt the rhythm of rallies and give her time to run around the backhand and blast her favored forehand to end Anisimova's inspired fairy-tale run.
Experience and the ability to mix the spins and speeds of her shots helped Barty unsettle Anisimova and turn the match around. This victory will vault Barty to a career-high rank of No. 3 and she could rise to No. 2 by winning the title.
The eighth-seeded Aussie advanced to her first Grand Slam final where she will face another teenager—Marketa Vondrousova—for the French Openchampionship.
The 19-year-old Vondrousova relied on her ball-control skills, precision and poise in coming back from 3-5 down in both sets taming fellow first-time French Open semifinalist Johana Konta, 7-5, 7-6 (2), on Court Simonne Mathieu.
The left-handed Vondrousova is the first teenager to reach a Grand Slam final since Caroline Wozniacki did it a decade ago at the US Open.
Contesting her third Grand Slam semifinal, Konta had set points in the opener but could not close. The flatter-hitting Briton conceded Vondrousova's varied counter-attack posed problems.
"She reads the game really well, so she would get a lot of balls back," Konta said. "With her being a lefty, she has that added variety with the way the ball comes back, is going to be different than 95% of the time that we play matches out there.
"Because she reads the game well and I think she generally enjoys playing the game, that's how it feels out there. I think she competes really well, as well. There is very few drop-offs from how she plays. So she's consistently there asking questions. She asks you a lot of questions out there, and I think that's a real gift of hers."
Vondrousova, who has scored two wins over 2018 Roland Garros champion Simona Halep this season, arrived in Paris with one career Roland Garros victory to her credit.
Playing with poise and patience, Vondrousova has knocked off four seeds in a row—Carla Suarez Navarro, Anastasija Sevastova, Petra Martic and the 26th-seeded Konta—sweeping through 12 straight sets to become the first woman to reach the French Open final without dropping a set since lefty compatriot Lucie Safarova did it in 2015.
Since losing to Martic in the Australian Open second round, a red-hot Vondrousova has posted a WTA-best 27-5 record.
This clash of first-time major semifinalists between Barty and the 51st-ranked Anisimova turned into a bizarre battle of wild moment shifts, committed comebacks and spiking nerves amid cool, drizzly unruly conditions that caused wind gusts more than 30 mph at times.
Staring down a one-set, 0-3 deficit, Barty flipped the script bursting back for a comeback.
Running down an Anisimova drop shot, Barty shoveled a forehand pass crosscourt breaking back for 1-3. That surge sparked the Aussie's second-set sprint as Barty began targeting the Anisimova forehand more frequently, altered the pace with her devious slice backhand and thumped her forehand with more vigor.
Quick off the mark, a focused Barty burst through five consecutive games for a 5-3 lead.
Bending at her waist and exhaling in frustration, Anisimova tried to reset but coughed up her second double fault to face triple-set point.
Sliding into a short ball, Barty was near net when she pushed a forehand into the corner scoring her third straight break to seize the second set and force a decider after 75 minutes of play.
Hall of Famer Gabriela Sabatini said she became a Barty fan watching her use the one-handed slice during her drive to the Miami Open title in March.
Varying the depth and length of her slice, Barty not only made the 5'11" teenager bend to scrape slices slithering near her ankles, but gave herself more time to dance around her backhand and fire her forehand with damaging intent.
The Aussie navigated a tough service game holding for deuce to start the decider.
Undaunted, Anisimova snapped a seven-game slide holding to level then went to work on the Barty serve. Moving up quickly to an angled dropper, Anisimova bended a touch backhand pass earning the first break of the final set for 2-1.
Action intensified in the fourth game as Anisimova fought off three break points to draw back even at deuce. Anisimova belted a backhand down the line—the same shot she used to seal her straight-sets upset of reigning champion Simona Halep yesterday—but Barty read the play, was already moving to the spot before the ball left the teenager's strings and slid into a running forehand pass she curled crosscourt breaking back for 2-all.
By then the drizzle was growing into a persistent rain and the flags top the stadium were flapping furiously as wind gusts kicked up eclipsing 30 mph.
A calm Barty tamed all the turmoil holding at 15 for 3-2.
The drop shot that worked so well igniting Anisimova's comeback in the first set grew a bit predictable by the third set. Barty was reading that shot better as she broke again for 4-2.
Stepping into the court and hammering heavy topspin forehands through the wind, Barty banged out her third straight game for 5-2.
Summoning the stubborn resilience she's showed throughout this tournament, Anisimova again made a stand. Digging out a triple-match point, love-40 hole stormed back to hold for 3-5 shifting the pressure right back on Barty's shoulders.
Shaking it off, Barty slid an ace down the middle for three more match points. Again, Anisimova wasn't down as she fired a forehand down the line to save a fourth match point. Drawing the teenager forward with another drop shot, Barty paid the price as Anisimova carved out a more devious dropped to save a fifth match point
Sliding a backhand approach, Barty attacked drawing the error to close a wild comeback win in one hour, 53 minutes.