It took 3 hours and 18 minutes, but No. 23 seed Jil Teichmann extended his magnificent clay court season on Friday to the first round of the Grand Slam round of his career.
Teichmann got a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) win over Victoria Azarenka in what was the longest Roland Garros match of 2022 to date. Azarenka had also played the longest previous game of the fortnight, beating Ana Bogdan in 2 hours and 58 minutes in the first round.
“I knew I was going to a battle,” Teichmann said later. “One of the best qualities of Vika is being a fighter, just like me. I’ve been playing great matches on clay, long games. I knew I would have my chances, I’ll have to stay calm and do my part.”
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Azarenka, No. 15 seed, led by a set and a break and also served the game 5-4 in the final set, but Teichmann prevailed for his tenth victory in his last 12 matches on clay.
Teichmann avenged his defeat to Azarenka earlier this year at the Australian Open, his only previous meeting.
Clay Crafts: Azarenka has veteran Grand Slam experience, with two major titles to her credit (2012 and 2013 Australian Open). Her 145 Grand Slam events are the fourth most active player, behind only Serena Williams (365), Venus Williams (271) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (154).
But Teichmann has had some great results on clay in recent weeks, with a WTA 1000 Madrid semi-final followed by a quarter-final race at the WTA 1000 Rome.
Today the atmosphere was amazing. I feel like I’m at home. The crowd was here, supporting me, cheering me on. They gave me energy. This was very important to stay throughout the match, which was a long match.
– Jil Teichmann
Teichmann added another Top 20 victory to his resume with the victory over Azarenka. Seven of Teichmann’s 14 Top 20 victories have come in 2022. He has risen to the current ranking of his career, number 24.
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Breakdown of the match: Playing in his first third-round match at a Grand Slam event, Teichmann was more effective behind the first serve, earning 65 percent of those points compared to 55 percent of Azarenka.
“I liked the way I played, and I knew that if I could stay calm, I would have opportunities,” Teichmann said. “I had the feeling that I was in control of the game. I was dictating. The winners, the unforced errors were on my side. So I thought that if I could do everything right, then I would be right.”
Azarenka bounced back from 3-1 to take a one-set lead, and then went up a 2-1 break in the second set. But Teichmann began to lengthen the rallies regularly, which worked in his favor, winning five of the last six games of the second set to tie the game.
A back-and-forth set saw Azarenka serve for the match with a 5-4 lead, but Teichmann broke the serve easily there and the pair ended in a 10-point tie.
In the tiebreaker, Teichmann hit five winners on the way to 9-5, converting his second game point with his sixth breaker winner, the last in reverse.
Stephens finishes Parry’s career
Teichmann will face another Grand Slam champion, 2017 U.S. Open holder Sloane Stephens, in the round of 16. Stephens, who reached the 2018 French Open final, beat Diane Parry’s hopes 6-2, 6-3 on Friday.
Stephens had to fight from a set in each of his first two rounds, but eventually secured a set victory by finishing 19-year-old Parry’s career. French teenager Parry had eliminated defending champion and world number 2 Barbora Krejcikova in the first round.
Given that I didn’t win a single game before entering the French Open, I would say I’m doing the best I can, and I’m happy to be in the fourth round for the eighth time. I think you never know when it will happen or when it will click. … Happy to put together the victories now.
– Sloane Stephens
Former world number 3 Stephens has won 31 games at Roland Garros over the course of his career, making him the highest scorer. This is the American’s eighth trip to the round of 16 in Paris.
Stephens had to fend off a late charge from Parry, when the Frenchwoman reacted 5-1 to 5-3 in the second set. There, Parry had a game point to extend the game even further, but Stephens converted his fourth game point to line up a first meeting with Teichmann.