A Roland-Garros,
The Suzanne Lenglen audience almost witnessed a hell of a Remontada. When Léolia Jeanjean saved three match points in the second set. Trailing 5-2, the Montpellier player, with her back to the wall, finally let go of the horses Too little, too late… The Stade Toulousain player failed to unbreak a second time at 4-5 on Begu’s serve . End of the beautiful Porte d’Auteuil story. “Compared to the players I faced before, she had a game that was a little more solid, a little more earthy which, in the end, looks a little like mine, blew Jeanjean in front of the press. In the end, it was she who bothered me more than I who bothered her. The exchanges were quite long, I was physically quite tense, so the legs didn’t react very well. Afterwards, to be honest, I did not find the solutions. I didn’t have many chances, I didn’t have too much leeway. It’s up to me to create play and when we’re a little tense, we force the blows a little, we make a few more silly mistakes. This is what happened (27 unforced errors).
After knocking down world number 8 Karolina Pliskova, Jeanjean fell back to earth against the solid world 63rd. She missed five break points in the first game and converted just 1 in 12 break points in the game as a whole. The ex-child prodigy of French tennis, experienced an air pocket after this very tight first game: “If I score this first game, it can change the turn of this first set”. Barely twenty minutes after giving up this first game, she was already trailing 1 set to nothing (1-6). The 26-year-old right-hander first gave her opponent the first break with a double fault before dropping a second game of white service. She may also regret her 5 break points in the second unconverted run.
But when it comes to taking stock, it’s the positive that wins out: “It’s a pure joy to have known this moment. I lived the best moments of my life. I am very happy.” Her achievement against Pliskova made her the lowest-ranked player to beat a member of the women’s top 10 in the Parisian Grand Slam since Conchita Martinez, then a debutant on the circuit, in 1988. The 26-year-old will be 148th at the next ranking. “My first goal will be to get into the top 100 and into the Grand Slam tables.” And instead of playing secondary tournaments on the French circuit, she should go from ocher to green with the aim of qualifying for Wimbledon. “I’ll be leaving to play on grass in not too long,” she confirmed. Returning to the circuit in 2020 “to have no regrets”, Jeanjean will be able to pursue his dream of competing in the 4 Grand Slams. “It is unlikely what happened between December 2020 and now. A lot of people are starting to talk to me. (Laughs) It’s very weird by the way. No, it’s almost a career change I want to say: we go from the secondary circuit and we arrive in Grand Slam where it’s the top of the top. Emotions are what have changed enormously. When you hear his name in a full stadium, it’s pure happiness; it’s something I really want to experience again and hope to experience again next year.”
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