French Open: Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic clinch women’s doubles title

Paris: The pair of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic clinched the 2022 French Open women’s doubles title after beating American duo of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the final, here on Sunday.

2016 champions and French hopes Garcia and Mladenovic took 1 hour and 44 minutes to register a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win on Court Philippe Chatrier and capture their second Roland Garros title as a team.

Former WTA Doubles World No 1 Mladenovic also claimed the title alongside Timea Babos in both 2019 and 2020 and she now has won a total of four Roland Garros women’s doubles titles. Garcia and Mladenovic were sturdier behind their first deliveries, winning 65 percent of their first-service points compared to a 51 percent success rate for the Americans. The French squad went 0-for-6 on break points in the first set, but were 5-for-6 in the last two sets combined.

Break point success set the tone of the opening frame early. Gauff and Pegula saved five break points before Gauff held for 1-1, then broke Mladenovic in the very next game en route to a one-set lead. But Garcia and Mladenovic took charge in a topsy-turvy second set when Mladenovic punched a volley winner to break the Pegula serve for 5-3. Garcia served out the set in the next game to level the final.

In the opening game of the third set, a crosscourt backhand winner by Garcia polished off a love break of the Gauff serve, and the French pair raced to 4-0 from there.
Serving for the championship at 5-2, Mladenovic had to save a break point and saw her first two match points slip away, but on the third opportunity, a Garcia overhead wrapped up the title for the home team.