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Pavlyuchenkova Set to Claim First Slam Title

The WTA portion of the 2021 French Open has been one wild roller-coaster ride that not even the most revered prognosticator could have predicted. World No. 33  Barbora Krejčíková will battle world No. 32 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in what is undoubtedly the most surprising Grand Slam finals pairing in our lifetimes.

Krejčíková is coming off a thrilling upset in the semifinal round that made history on Thursday. Pavlyuchenkova also made a bit of WTA Tour history by reaching the finals. Krejčíková is the narrow  WTA French Open odds favorite in the BetUS online sportsbook. Despite two surprise finalists, this meeting could turn into one of the most compelling WTA grand slam finals.

Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova serves the ball to Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek
Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

The 2021 French Open WTA finals is set for Saturday, June 12 at 10:00 a.m. ET and will go down live on the hallowed Phillipe Chatrier court.

2021 WTA French Open Finals

When: Saturday, June 12, 2021, at 10 a.m. ET

WTA Odds

Barbora Krejčíková -125

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova +105

Total: 21½

Alternate Game Odds

Barbora Krejčíková -2½ +115

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova +2½ -135

Barbora Krejčíková

The 5-foot-10 Czech Republic native Barbora Krejčíková will see her ranking rise after her spectacular run to the finals. The 25-year-old has dispatched some big names to reach her first grand slam finals and made some big history by doing so, although we’ll get to that in a bit.

Krejcikova needed three sets, but stunned world No. 10 Karolina Pliskova 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in her opening round match. The crafty veteran then quickly dispatched No. 32 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-6 before smacking around fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-2 in the third round.

Krejčíková then crushed American Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-0  before fighting off young American Cori “Coco” Gauff, 7-6 (8), 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Krejčíková overcame five set points against Gauff to win the opening set before squashing any hopes Gauff had of a comeback in the second set.

On Thursday, Krejcikova beat talented world No. 17 Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 in the longest women’s semifinal match in the history of the French Open. The match lasted a whopping three hours and 18 minutes before the Czech prevailed despite my prediction otherwise.

“I always wanted to play a match like this,” said Krejcikova. “Every time, when I was younger [and] I was playing juniors, I always wanted to play a match like this. Such a challenging match, where we both had our chances, we both have been playing so well. Only one can win.”

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova dispatched American Christina McHale 6-4, 6-0 in her first-round match before getting past Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-3 in the second round. Pavlyuchenkova then dispatched one of the top favorites by upsetting third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 in the third round.

The sage veteran then bounced former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round before getting past doubles partner Elena Rybakina in a three-set thriller, 6-7 (2), 6-2, 9-7 in the quarterfinals. Pavlyuchenkova didn’t get off to the best start in her semifinal win over Tamara Zidansek but picked up the pace nicely as the match wore on to win 7-5, 6-3.

Now, Pavlyuchenkova will make her first appearance in a grand slam final after more attempts than any other woman in the Open Era. In her 52nd major, the 29-year-old has become the first woman to play more than 50 slam tournaments before competing in her first final. Her semifinal win also made her the first Russian woman, since Maria Sharapova in 2015, to reach a major final.

“It’s been a long road,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “It’s been a lot of ups and downs. It’s been a tough one. I definitely didn’t expect this year being in the final. I guess you can’t expect those things. I was just there working hard, doing everything possible.

“I just said to myself, ‘You know what, this year let’s do whatever it takes, anything you can do to improve your game, your mentality.’ Started working with a sports psychologist, everything. Just I wanted to give it a try so I have no regrets after. That’s it.”

The Pick

These two have never met but I love the value that Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is offering. Krejčíková played an extremely lengthy semifinal match against Maria Sakkari and I believe her legs will feel the effects of that clash in the finals. In addition to that, Krejčíková made a ton of unforced errors despite pulling off the stunning upset and issued five double faults to cancel out her five aces.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has some powerful groundstrokes and I believe she’ll be able to keep it together a bit more mentally than her finals counterpart. We’re almost assuredly looking at a three-set thriller, but in the end, I’m going with Pavlyuchenkova.

Pick: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Three Sets

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