French Open 2021: The women’s singles finalists you’ve never heard of

French Open finalists normally need no introduction. These ones do.

Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova returns the ball against Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek during their semi-final at Roland Garros Picture: AFP

I remember Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from the accreditation queue at the 2016 Indian Wells Masters. A dolled-up Californian official looked her up and down and asked “Media or volunteer, sweetheart?” Pavlyuchenkova laughed, “Um, player.”

Now I’m burning the midnight oil to watch the French Open women’s semi-finals, and Pavlyuchenkova’s face is the only vaguely familiar one. Um, Roland Garros semi-finalists should need no introduction, but these ones do. They need their names on the backs of their shirts like State of Origin players.

Pavlyuchenkova is playing someone called Tamara Zidansek. Someone called Barbora Krejcikova is playing the mildly well-credentialed Maria Sakkari. When the umpire tells the kids to send the balls to Miss Zidansek’s end, one of them says, “Mon ami! Which one’s she?”

It’s unheard of. French Open contenders that no-one’s heard of. Pavlyuchenkova starts anxiously. Tentatively. You’d swear she’s never been in a major semi-final before. That’s because she’s never been in a major semi-final before.

Um, it’s taken her 52 slams to get this far, more than any other female player in history, but she steadies against Zidansek, who’s never been out of the first round, let alone the cusp of the title, to win 7-5, 6-3.

Fourteen years have passed since the 29-year-old Pavlyuchenkova was the world number one junior. She was 15 when she received her first wildcard into Wimbledon. Finally she’s reached her first major final on Paris’s most glorious patch of dirt.

She says: “Fourteen-year-old me would tell me: 'What took you so long? It’s been a long road.”

Sakkari leads Krejcikova 5-3 in the third set. Has match point. Blows it. Loses 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 in a three-hour psychological thriller of enough tension for Hitchcock to yell cut.

The final between Pavlyuchenkova and Krejcikova could just as easily have been a first-round match out on Court 7.

They’re going to be riddled with nerves, doubts, excitement, adrenaline, panic and the pressure of knowing they’re unlikely to get another opportunity as good as this.

With Ash Barty, Naomi Osaka, Iga Swiatek, Serena Williams, Venus Williams – whom I reckon I’d beat, probably in three sets, now she mentions it – all long gone, the champion may be the one who chokes the least.

“I have to be deadly honest,” Sakkari said. “I got stressed. I starting thinking that I’m a point away from being in the final. I guess it’s a rookie mistake.”

Pavlyuchenkova has always been a solid player held back by a lack of fitness and her mental frailties. She’s been hitting the gym and the psychologist’s couch. Turned herself into a serious player, sweetheart.

“It’s been a lot of ups and downs,” she said. “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’d have no regrets after. That’s it.”

Krejcikova is the real bolter. The 25-year-old Czech has always been a doubles specialist. She won the French Open and Wimbledon doubles with Katerina Siniakova, and they were the number one pairing in the world.

This is only her fifth singles major. She tried and failed 11 times to get through singles qualifying at the slams, and still hasn’t played a main-draw match at Wimbledon or the US Open. She was annihilated 6-2, 6-1 by Australia’s Destanee Aiava at Wimbledon qualifying in 2017, and hasn’t been back since.

She’ll be inside the top 20 when she returns to London later this month, and perhaps in possession of the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen. Remarkable.

She only started having a few more hits of singles when the tour stalled because of Covid. She was still ranked outside the top 100 before last year’s end-of-season French Open.

Covid-related withdrawals gave her a place in the main draw, and reached the fourth round, which pushed her to No.85 on the rankings and allowed a start in the Australian Open in February. She lost in the second round to Ekaterina Alexandrova. Nobody noticed.

Her rise is the equivalent of Australian doubles specialist John Peers having a crack at singles and ending up in the Roland Garros final.

Barty must be ruing her hip injury more than ever. She retired in round two against Magda Linette. Linette was beaten in round three by Ona Jabeur. Jabeur was beaten in round four by Coco Gauff. Gauff lost in the quarter-finals to Krejcikova, who has reached the decider through the section of the draw vacated by Barty.

“I always wanted to play a match like this,” said Krejcikova after the longest women’s semi-final in French Open history. “Every time, when I was younger, when I was playing juniors, I always wanted to play a match like this.

“Such a challenging match, where we both had our chances. Only one can win but even if I lost today, I would be just very proud of myself because I was fighting. I think that’s the most important thing, just to fight. Every time, in here, but also in the normal life. Fighting. That’s the most important thing.”