Roland Garros 2015: difficult match and victory in Women’s Doubles

The match lasted 1 hour 33 minutes. The 3rd seed Hungarian-French duo will meet Daniela Hantuchova and Samantha Stosur in the next round.

"It was not an easy match today, but it is super that we succeeded. It was an uncomfortable opponent, and to be honest, we did not played so well. I was good from the baseline, but my volleys were not so good. Kiki was the “opposite” of that, and se struggled also behind the serves... Never mind, the first rond is never easy at a Slam. I'm happy to win in any case"- said Timi.

In the 37-minute first set Timiand Mladenovic immediately won the opponent’s service game, bt that lead did not last long. Erakovic and Watson equalized to 2:2, they broke to 30. But after that the 3rd seed pair took the control again.

The 22-year old Hungarian and French player broke to 15, after 2:2, and this time they held the lead. After 5:3 they won their service game after 0-30.

Int he second set the Hungarian-French pair again broke after 2:2, but a few minutes later the opponent equalized to 4:4… Int he ninth game Erakovic and Watson saved a break point.

Then came the tie-break, which was one-sided. Erakovic and Watson led 2-1 with a break, but after that Timi and Mladenovic won six rally in a row. So they finished the difficult match, they advanced to the second round.

The 3rd seed Hungarian-French duo’s next opponent will be Daniela Hantuchova and Samantha Stosur.

The 32-year-old Hantuchova is currently ranked 83rd, her career best position was 5 (26 August 2002). During her career she won 9 WTA and 1 ITF event in Women’s Doubles. In this genre she played 3 Grand Slam final: twice at the Australian Open (2002, Co: Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 2009, Co: Ai Sugiyama) and once at Roland Garros (2006, Co: Sugiyama). In Mixed doubles she is a 5 time finalist, winning once at all locations (2002, Australian Open, Co: Kevin Ullyett, 2005, Roland Garros, Co: Fabrice Santoro, 2001Wimbledon, Co: Leos Friedl, 2005, US Open, Co: Mahesh Bhupathi). It means, that Hantuchova has a career Grand Slam in Mixed Doubles.

The Slovak player’s best result this season was a quarter-final in Indian Wells (United States, 6,157,160 USD, hard court, Co: Karin Knapp).

The 31-year old Stosur is ranked 70th, her career best was 1 (6 February 2006). So far, she has won 24 WTA and 11 ITF event in this genre. She played a total of 6 Grand Slam final, she celebrated twice: Wimbledon (2006, Co: Lisa Raymond) and US Open (2005, Co: Raymond). In Mixed Doubles she has won three times: once at the Australian Open (2005, Co: Scott Draper) and twice at Wimbledon (2008, Co: Bob Bryan, 2014, Co: Nenad Zimonjic).

The Australian player’s best result this year was a semifinal in Indian Wells (Co: Raymond).