Britain’s Joe Salisbury and America’s Desirae Krawczyk produced a stunning performance against the formidable Russian pair of Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina to win the 2021 French Open mixed doubles title in Paris yesterday. After dropping the first set to the Russians, Salisbury/ Krawczyk fought back in the final two sets to win the title in three entertaining sets 2-6, 6-4, 10-5.
The American-British pair endured the aggression of their opponents initially. Later in the match, like true doubles specialists, Krawczyk-Salisbury and stuck to their guns and got the match under their control. It the net-game efficiency of Salisbury that took the momentum away from Karatsev and Vesnina. The American-British team, which lost in the semi-finals in Melbourne earlier this year in the super tie-break, had learned the lesson.
“I just want to say it was a wonderful week for us, said the Brit. We didn’t expect such a result at the start. It was my first time on this wonderful court, thank you very much for your support.”
“Last year I played the final with my friend Alexa, but there was no audience because of the Covid, so thank you very much for the encouragement, it was great,” added the American at the post-match interview.
Second Grand Slam for Salisbury, First for Krawczyk.
This was Joe Salisbury’s second Grand Slam title, following his success earlier in the men’s doubles event at the Australian Open in 2020. The Brit was paired with America’s Rajeev Ram on that occasion. On the other hand, Desirae Krawczyk lost in the women’s doubles finals last year at Roland Garros, along with partner, Alexa Guarachi. The duo were beaten by France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Switzerland’s Timea Babos.
Going ahead in the year, it remains to be seen if the British-American pair of Salisbury and Krawczyk continue to partnership. We will soon know in a couple of weeks at Wimbledon.
