Roland Garros Redemption! Dodig/Krajicek Triumph In Paris

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Spurred on by their 2022 Roland Garros championship-match heartbreak, Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek charged to their maiden major title as a team in style Saturday at the clay-court major with a convincing 6-3, 6-1 triumph against Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.

The Croatian-American pairing converted four of eight break points they earned as they accelerated to an 80-minute triumph on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Dodig and Krajicek won nine of the final 10 games as their imaginative returning and rock-solid netplay proved too much for their unseeded opponents.

“We waited 12 months for another opportunity to be here,” said Krajicek at the trophy ceremony. “It really is special. We’ll keep fighting, we’re always looking to get better. [It was] a great tournament and we’ll keep building on that.”

_{^{Austin Krajicek (second from right) and Ivan Dodig (right) beat Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen to triumph at Roland Garros on Saturday. Photo: Peter Staples/ATP Tour.}}

A year ago, Dodig and Krajicek let slip three match points in the Roland Garros final before falling to an agonising defeat against Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer. The pair showed no sign of that experience affecting them on Saturday in Paris, where they outhit Gille and Vliegen by 27 winners to 17.

The victory brought a double reward to Krajicek. By lifting his maiden major trophy with Dodig, the American also ensured he will rise to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings for the first time on Monday.

“I just want to thank my partner for the amazing run here,” said Dodig when addressing Krajicek. “You [won] your first Grand Slam title, [on Monday] you are No.1 in the world and you well deserve it, so well done.”

It was a third major men’s doubles title for Dodig, who also triumphed at Roland Garros in 2015 (with Marcelo Melo) and at the 2021 Australian Open (with Filip Polasek).

With their victory, Dodig and Krajicek improved to 3-0 in their ATP Head2Head series against Gille and Vliegen. The two Belgians, who first teamed at an ITF World Tennis Tour event 10 years ago and have won seven ATP Tour titles together, upset four seeded opponents en route to their first major final, but they could not stick with Dodig and Krajicek on Saturday despite making a steady start to the match.

“Congratulations to you guys,” said Gille. “Obviously you deserve it, especially after making the final this year again, so you’ve done a great job and congratulations to you.”

“I don’t think we would have thought [we would reach a major final] when we started playing together back in 2015,” said Vliegen. “Dreams become goals, and I think even though we are disapppinted we didn’t take the victory today, I think we can be very happy that we’ve come so far already. We will go right back to work and make sure we are on the right side next time.”