Barty, Vondrousova set up title clash

Ashleigh Barty and Marketa Vondrousova setup a Roland Garros final showdown yesterday, shrugging off a sexism row which had seen their semi-finals shifted away from the tournament’s showpiece court. Barty, 23, reached her first final at the majors, coming back from a set and 0-3 down to defeat 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-3 in a rollercoaster semi-final.

Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova also made sure of her place in a maiden final at the Slams by edging out Britain’s Johanna Konta 7-5, 7-6 (7/2). Vondrousova, 19, is the first teenager to reach a major final in 10 years since Caroline Wozniacki at the 2009 US Open and the first at Roland Garros in 12 years.

Today’s final will be the youngest final at a Slam since the 2008 Roland Garros championship match when 20-yearold Ana Ivanovic defeated Dinara Safina, 22. Eighth seed Barty is the first Australian in a French Open final since Samantha Stosur finished runner-up in 2010. “That was amazing, both good and bad,” said Barty who will rise to the top three in the rankings next week.

‘Hardest thing I’ve done’

“It was the hardest thing that I ever had to do. “I am really proud of the way I fought especially in the conditions which were cold and windy.” Both semi-finals got underway after accusations of sexism were made against French Open organisers who had decided to shift the matches away from the showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier. The main arena had already been scheduled to stage the men’s semi-finals between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic against Dominic Thiem.

The WTA said the decision, taken after Wednesday’s play was washed out and prompted by fears of more rain yesterday, was “unfair and inappropriate”. Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo of France said it was a “disgrace”. Barty, 23, raced into a 4-0 lead with successive breaks as Anisimova, plagued with nerves, managed just one point. The 17-year-old saved two set points in the sixth game to finally get on the board and retrieved a break for 2-5.

She broke twice again for 6-5 but faltered when she served for the set before securing the tiebreak. Anisimova then led 3-0 in the second set, with Barty failing to win a point. However, in a perfect capsule of the unpredictable semi-final, played out in front of a half-full Court Suzanne Lenglen, Barty claimed the next six games to level the tie.

The Australian, who once famously took a break from tennis to pursue a cricket career, even recovered from a break at 1-2 down in the decider. She eventually held her nerve as Anisimova, bidding to become the youngest finalist in Paris since Martina Hingis in 1997, fell apart despite gamely saving five match points.

‘Kinda froze’

“I mean, I was kind of, like, frozen and I couldn’t really get into my game,” said Anismova of her wretched start although she has the consolation of knowing she’ll be in the top 30 next week. Over on a damp and windy Court Simonne Mathieu, world number 38 Vondrousova battled past 26th seed Konta who was bidding to become Britain’s first female French Open finalist since Sue Barker won the 1976 title.

When she steps onto Chatrier today, it will be Vondrousova’s first experience of the arena. “I watched (compatriot) Lucie Safarova when she played finals there in 2015 when I was junior, but I never played there. So it’s going to be something huge,” she said. Konta looked the stronger player for large periods of the match but a staggering 41 unforced errors proved costly.

The match was played in an atmosphere more associated with first-round ties rather than semi-finals -- in front of a smattering of spectators on the 5,000-capacity arena. “The way it looks probably speaks for itself more than anything,” said Konta after the match in reference to the court.