Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic came back from a set down to beat eighth seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula of the United States 2-6 6-3 6-2 in the Roland Garros final to win their home major as a team for the second time.
The French duo entered the main-draw as wildcards, since their current doubles rankings are No.232 for Mladenovic and No.469 for Garcia. Sunday’s triumph will take former No.1 Mladenovic back to the Top 50, where she will be joined by her doubles partner Garcia.
The pair first teamed up at start of 2016 with a focus on preparing for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Although they failed to win a medal at the Olympics, they enjoyed plenty of success elsewhere, lifting four titles. The highlight of this run came at Roland Garros, where they became the first all-French team to lift the trophy since 1971.
Mladenovic now owns four Roland Garros women’s doubles titles, having also triumphed in Paris alongside Timea Babos in 2019 and 2020. Moreover, the Frenchwoman’s biography includes two Australian Open women’s doubles titles and three Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles competition.
Coco Gauff was hoping to console herself with the women’s doubles title in Paris, after losing Saturday’s singles final to Iga Swiatek, but the 18-year-old will have to show patience, a stellar career is definitely ahead of her.
