Barty and Vondrousova advance to French Open final

Ashleigh Barty and Marketa Vondrousova will grace a Grand Slam singles final for the first time on Saturday after wins on Friday over Amanda Anisimova and Johanna Konta respectively.

Barty, seeded eighth, recovered from a disastrous first set when she went from 5-0 up to 5-6 down to wear down her 17-year-old American opponent 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.

“I'm just proud of myself the way I was able to fight and scrap and hang in there and find a way when I kind of threw away that first set,” said the 23-year-old Australian.

After going a break down in the second set, Barty, who reached the last eight at the Australian Open, dug in and surged from 0-3 to claim the set.

She also trailed by a break in the decider but with her teenage adversary fading visibly, her consistency made the difference in blustery damp conditions.

“I was really happy the way I was able to respond at a set and 3-0 down and really turn the match on its head, even though it wasn't the best tennis in pretty tough conditions.”

Luck
Vondrousova, 19, rode her luck to see off the 26^th seeded Konta 7-5, 7-6. The 28-year-old Briton squandered three set points on Vondousova's serve in the first set and then failed to serve it out from 5-4 up. She also fluffed her chance to serve out in the second set.

The unseeded Czech, playing in her third French Open, will play Barty for the first time on clay. “We've played on grass and on a hard court,” said Vondrousova. “So it's going to be something new. She's top 10 now and she's playing amazing tennis and she mixes it up also like me, so I think it's going to be interesting match.”