By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday October 11, 2020
The Germans mounted an improbable run to the title in 2019. In 2020 they repeated.
Photo Source: AP
Defending Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies weren’t that upset about the fact that Roland Garros was postponed by several months this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last week they told this reporter, jokingly, that at least they got to remain champions for a little longer.
After another six victories on the terre battue, they can hang on to the title of Roland Garros champions for a while longer.
The German duo, who became the first all-German pair to win the title at Roland Garros in 2019, mounted a successful title defense in Paris that was nearly as surprising as their first run.
Especially to them.
“Honestly, if somebody would have told us last year that we’re going to come back here and defend the title, we would have asked them, ‘How many beers have you had?’ It’s unreal,” Mies said on court after they had defeated reigning US Open champions Bruno Soares and Mate Pavic for the title on Saturday, 6-3, 7-5.
An impressive run that took them through 13th-seeded Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski in the quarterfinals and ninth-seeded Wesley Koolhof and Nicola Mektic (this year's US Open runner-ups) in the semis, ends with Mies and Krawietz holding a perfect 12-0 record at Roland-Garros.
Krawietz and Mies are just the fourth men’s doubles team to win consecutive Roland-Garros titles in the Open era.
“It's unbelievable,” Mies said. “I think this achievement is even bigger than winning last year. I think to win a Grand Slam title is always big, but to defend it is even more difficult. It's incredible that we did it. We're unbelievably happy right now. We cannot believe it. It took a while last year to let it sink in. It took, I don't know, until probably coming back here in the beginning of the tournament to realize it.”