By Ros Satar, at Roland Garros
- We crunch the numbers between Ashleigh Barty and Marketa Vondrousova as they bid to win a maiden Grand Slam title
PARIS, FRANCE – Ashleigh Barty & Marketa Vondrousova will face off in the Roland Garros final with a maiden Slam awaiting the winner.
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Saturday will see the youngest final at a Grand Slam since 2008 Roland Garros, when a 20-year-old Ana Ivanovic defeated Dinara Safina (22). Ashleigh Barty is bidding to be the first Australian to win Roland Garros since Margaret Court (1973), while if Marketa Vondrousova continues her run of form, she could become the first teenager to win Roland Garros without dropping a set, and the third teenager altogether to win in straight sets.
Head to Head
| Ashleigh Barty [8] | Marketa Vondrousova |
| 2 | 0 |
The pair have met twice before but this will be their first encounter on clay, and both are much improved this year. With this encounter they will have met on all three surfaces.
Advantage: Barty
Titles History
| Barty | Vondrousova | |
| Titles (2019) | 4 (1) | 1 (0) |
| Slams | 0 | 0 |
Barty has the more experience in finals and won her biggest title to date in Miami this year, backing up a winning the WTA Elite trophy at the end of last year. Vondrousova won her maiden title in Biel in 2017 and made the final in Budapest and Istanbul this year.
Advantage: Barty
Year to Date/Career W/L Record
| Barty | Vondrousova | |
| All surfaces W/L | 30/5 / 114-54 | 28-6 / 52-30 |
| Clay-court | 10-2 / 21-13 | 15-2 / 24-10 |
Both players only played a couple of tournaments in their run up to Roland Garros, but Vondrousova was by far the more consistent of the pair on clay and comes in arguably the more in form, yet to drop a set in the tournament, while Barty has had a couple of wobbles in her run to the final.
Advantage: Vondrousova
Match Stats 2019 (Source: WTA Match Notes)
| Barty | Vondrousova | |
| Tie-Breaks | 4-4 | 7-0 |
| Deciding sets | 9-2 | 7-4 |
Tie-breaks
If Vondrousova can push Barty to a tie-break she will absolutely fancy her chances to come away on top while it has been 50/50 for Barty.
Deciding Sets
Vondrousova has been the more effective by far this year, in terms of getting the job done in straight sets while we have even seen here that Barty can get tight when in control of matches.
Advantage: Vondrousova
Tournament
Serve/Return
There is nothing to separate them on their first serve percentage points won, with Barty just a tick ahead behind her second serve, and Vondrousova just a little stronger when receiving. Barty just looks a little stronger on winners but also has been a little worse where her unforced errors are concerned.
Advantage: Deuce
What they had to say
Roland Garros can be magical for breakthrough teens, and Vondrousova will need to get over the excitement of reaching the final, much less the daunting prospect of playing on Chatrier for the first time, as she gears up to face Barty.
After her win against Johanna Konta, she said: “I played her twice, I think once on grass and once on hard. We never play on clay, so it’s going to be something new. Of course she’s top 10 now and she’s playing amazing tennis.
“She’s playing so much like — she’s mixing it also like me, so I think it’s going to be interesting match. It’s final, and I’m just gonna focus and try to relax.”
The stats tell us it is pretty evenly matched, but Barty comes into this with Grand Slam Doubles titles under her belt. She is well aware that Vondrousova has been in excellent form to get to this point, and is not about to underestimate her now.
“Probably the biggest challenge of all. She’s in a Grand Slam final. It’s incredible for both of us. She’s had an amazing record throughout the whole year, very, very consistent. I think probably is most comfortable on the clay courts as opposed to any other surface.
“I think obviously she has so much variety in her game. She’s got the ability to move the ball around the court, moves exceptionally well. So, I think for me it’s an opportunity to go out there and try and bring it back to my style of tennis as much as possible and know at times it’s not going to be in my control what she’s able to do with the ball.
“So, I think it will be an exciting final for both of us, something that will be well-fought. Yeah, we look forward to it.
Prediction: Barty in three sets.
The Roland Garros Women’s Singles Final takes place on 8 June not before 3pm (2pm BST).
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