The Roland Garros women’s singles crown will remain in Czech hands for the second straight year after No.9 seed Lucie Havlickova beat Solana Sierra 6-3, 6-3 in a 73-minute final.
Later, Havlickova added the doubles trophy to her tally, teaming with fellow No. 1 seed Sara Bejlek to defeat No. 2 seeds Nikola Bartunkova and Celine Naef. The title sweep made up for the disappointment Havlickova experienced exactly a year ago, when she arrived in Paris as the first substitute in the girls’ draw, but failed to enter.
Havlickova, 17, is the fifth Czech to win the title after Renata Tomanova (1972), Regina Marsikova (1975), Hana Mandlikova (1978) and Linda Noskova (2021). Noskova qualified for this year’s main draw and led Emma Raducanu to three sets in the first round. Havlickova now holds a 29-6 record in junior competition this year, having also won the Criciuma Grade A tournament in February and reached finals in Vrsar and Offenbach.
The result was the culmination of a title chase for Havlickova, who came out on top in four consecutive matches in three sets to reach the final. In three of them – against Luca Udvardy in the second round, Joelle Steur in the third round and Sara Bejlek in the semis – Havlickova had to fall in the third set.
In contrast, Sierra had only dropped a single set en route to the final, against No. 4 seed Brenda Fruhvirtova in the first round. The 17-year-old was the first Argentine to reach a Grand Slam women’s singles final since Maria Emilia Salerni won the US Open in 2000.
However, Havlickova played a composed and efficient title match backed by excellent serve. She won 73% of the points behind her first delivery and never faced a break point. A powerful forehand backed it up, and Havlickova also excelled at the net, where she earned the point of the match: after being dragged forward by a drop shot from Sierra, Havlickova fended off a barrage of forward pass attempts to find a winning end to hold for 4-2 in the second set.
Sierra also impressed with several baseline winners with her back to the wall, but was undone by 35 unforced errors and three loose service games. Five double faults, including two for drop serve at the start of the second set and a championship point face, were also a weakness.
Havlickova will have the chance to land a Parisian double later with her compatriot Bejlek. As the No. 1 seeds in the doubles, they will face No. 2 seeds Celine Naef and Nikola Bartunkova in the final.
Havlickova and Sierra have already started making inroads on the professional circuit. Havlickova made her WTA main draw debut as a wildcard in Prague last year, falling to Anastasia Gasanova in three sets in the first round, and is currently ranked No. 863. Sierra picked up her first victory in the Top 200 against Sara Errani in the first round of the La Bisbal d’Empordà ITF W100 last month and is now ranked No. 575.
In the words of Havlickova: “I feel amazing, even though I’ve spent a million hours here on the court because I’ve played three sets every time except today. It was very tough mentally and physically. I played a lot of matches in three sets because every time something went wrong. Even in doubles, the first two matches were in super tie-breaks, so it was physically very hard. But there is a good chance of recover with the ice baths and everything. So I was well prepared, even though I spent a lot of time in the field. research.
“Last year I was here and I was the first substitute, the first girl that didn’t come in. It was pretty sad. But hey, I’m here today.
“It’s amazing to be a part of [Czech] story, but still, this is just the start of something. Hoping to be bigger. I hope it gets better one day, a better story, like maybe the WTA champion or something.”