By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Sunday, July 28, 2024
Wimbledon winner Barbora Krejcikova battled by Sara Sorribes Tormo 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(2) in her Olympic opener at Roland Garros.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Surface switches don't scare Barbora Krejcikova.
Wimbledon winner Krejcikova withstood a first-round fright battling by Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(2) in her Paris Olympic opener on Court Philippe Chatrier.
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It is Krejcikova's eighth straight win and sends her into the second round vs. China's Xinyu Wang.
The ninth-seeded Krejcikova has won both prior meetings vs. Wang.
The 10th-ranked Czech extended one streak, while snapping another.
This was Krejcikova's first Roland Garros singles win since she defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets in the 2021 French Open final.
Since winning that maiden major in Paris, Krejcikova had fallen in three Roland Garros first-round losses.
Mixing a slice backhand with high loopy topspin forehands, Sorribes Tormo nearly knocked the Wimbledon winner out of the second straight Olympic Games.
Remember, Sorribes Tormo shocked reigning Wimbledon champion Ash Barty 6-4, 6-3 victory over Barty in one hour and 34 minutes at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
On that day, Barty tossed in 55 unforced errors to just 13 for Sorribes Tormo.
A clever counter-puncher, Sorribes Tormo took the first set today.
Krejcikova went on the attack dispensing the bagel in the second set. The final game of the second set was the longest of the match as Krejcikova converted her seventh set point to force a decider.
Though Krejcikova built a 4-2 lead in the final set, Sorribes Tormo broke back to level.
A tight Krejcikova hit her first double fault of the set to go down 15-30. Krejcikova came back holding at 30 through a tense game for a 6-5 lead.
Sorribes Tormo held firm to force the third-set tiebreaker.
The Krejcikova forehand was the key stroke in the breaker. Krejcikova threw up a lob volley and a forehand drop volley for a 2-1 lead on a play that saw the Spaniard crash to the clay before giving the thumbs-up sign.
Krejcikova cracked forehand winners on three of the next five points surging to four match points on a forehand strike down the line.
When Sorribes Tormo netted a short forehand, the two-time Grand Slam champion was through to round two.
Greece's Maria Sakkari slammed Danka Kovinic 6-0, 6-1 in a first-round thrashing.