Australia’s Ashleigh Barty says returning to tennis was the best decision she has made after winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the French Open.

Barty, 23, took a break from the sport in 2014 to play professional cricket.

She returned almost two years later and capped her comeback by beating Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-3 at Roland Garros on Saturday.

“I never dreamt I’d be sat here with the French Open trophy,” she said.

• Barty wins her first Grand Slam
• Re-live Barty’s victory over Vondrousova

Asked if she thought she would have become a Grand Slam singles champion had she not taken break from tennis, she said: “Absolutely not. I don’t even know if I’d be sitting here talking to you if I was playing tennis if I didn’t step away.

“I feel like it was the best decision that I made at the time, and it was an even better one coming back.”

Barty, who was seeded eighth at Roland Garros, stepped away from the tour following the 2014 US Open, saying she felt tennis was a “lonely sport”.

The Queenslander switched to cricket and played for the Brisbane Heat in the women’s Big Bash.

“I needed time to step away, to live a normal life, because this tennis life certainly isn’t normal,” she said.

“I never closed any doors, saying, ‘I’m never playing tennis again’.”

Barty returned in early 2016 and has since won four tour titles – including the Miami Open in March – as well as the US Open women’s doubles title last year.

Now she has gone a step further by becoming the first Australian since Margaret Court in 1973 to win a Roland Garros singles title.

She will climb up to second in the world rankings following her triumph on the Paris clay.

“I think a new perspective in my life and in my career, it’s brought this new belief and this feeling of belonging at the very top level,” Barty added.

Clay had been considered Barty’s weakest surface and she had only reached the second round at Roland Garros twice in five appearances before this year.

Barty’s serving was key to her success, hitting a tournament high 38 aces and winning 81% of service games – a tally which nobody who reached the third round bettered.

“It’s been an incredible couple of weeks, that’s for sure,” she said.

“I think any time I can play my brand of tennis, I know that I can match it against the best in the world.

“For the last fortnight, the stars have aligned for me. I have been able to play really good tennis when I’ve needed it.”

Vondrousova, who beat British number one Johanna Konta in the semi-finals, was aiming to become the first teenager to win a Grand Slam since Maria Sharapova at the 2006 US Open.

She will rise into the world’s top 20 for the first time after a superb clay-court season in which no other female player has won more matches.

“I think it’s going to change my life now,” the Czech said on her success at Roland Garros.

“A lot of people texted me. I was all over Czech TV. It was kind of strange for me, but I’m enjoying it.

“I can’t really believe it still. It’s a huge thing for me.”

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Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies became the first German pair to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles title after beating France’s Fabrice Martin and Jeremy Chardy in the French Open final.

The unseeded pair claimed their first major title with a 6-2 7-6 (7-3) victory.

Both Krawietz, 27, and Mies, 28, were playing in their first Grand Slam final.

Chardy, 32, lost in the first round of the singles to Britain’s Kyle Edmund.

Unseeded pair Ivan Dodig and Latisha Chan caused an upset in the mixed doubles, beating second seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Mate Pavic 6-1 7-6 (7-5) to win the title on Friday.

China’s Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai will play second seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in the women’s doubles final on Sunday.

• Barty wins French Open for maiden Grand Slam singles title
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Australian Ashleigh Barty has beaten Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova in the French Open final to win her first Grand Slam singles title and complete a fairytale return to the sport.

The eighth seed won 6-1 6-3 against 19-year-old Vondrousova on the Paris clay.

Barty, 23, quit tennis to play professional cricket in 2014, but returned to the sport 17 months later.

Now she is the first Australian to win a singles titles at Roland Garros since Margaret Court in 1973.

After thumping away an overhead on her first match point, Barty turned to her team and raised her hands in the air, placing them on her head in disbelief before dropping to her haunches on the red dirt.

“It is unbelievable, I’m a little speechless, I played almost the perfect match,” Barty said.

“It has been a crazy two weeks.

“It is a special place here for Australian players and I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve been able to achieve.”

Barty will climb to second in the world when the latest standings are released next week, making her the highest-ranked Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in December 1976.

Despite defeat, 38th-ranked Vondrousova will rise into the top 20 for the first time following a clay-court swing where no other female player has won more matches.

• Re-live Barty’s victory over Vondrousova
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From 623rd in world to Grand Slam champion three years later

Barty’s first Grand Slam singles title comes almost three years to the day since she reappeared in the WTA rankings – at 623rd – after taking more than a year out to switch sports.

The Queenslander retired in 2014 and played for the Brisbane Heat in the women’s Big Bash after saying tennis was a “lonely sport”.

She decided to return in early 2016 and has since won four tour titles – including the Miami Open in March – as well as the US Open women’s doubles title last year.

Those achievements were important steps on a sharp climb leading to this stunning success in Paris.

Barty had the greater experience of the two finalists and it showed in a confident performance which did not allow Vondrousova to play with the variety she had previously shown.

Vondrousova, like she did against British number one Johanna Konta in the semi-finals, started nervously – but this time there was no chance of a recovery.

Barty’s aggressive approach paid off as she took three of nine break points to clinch the opening set in just 29 minutes, the first which Vondrousova had dropped in the tournament.

Barty broke again in the first game of the second set, then staved off a break point to hold a lengthy service game and maintain her advantage.

She continued to read her teenage opponent’s game throughout the second set, her neat footwork – on what used to be considered her weakest surface – enabling her to answer any question offered by Vondrousova.

That was illustrated in what proved to be the final game, Barty’s relentless returning allowing her to hit four winners as she turned a 15-40 deficit into a match-winning break.

Another new name on a women’s Grand Slam trophy

While a French Open final contested by Barty and Vondrousova might have seemed unlikely at the outset of the tournament, it was further proof there is no shortage of talented young women ready to win the biggest titles.

Barty is the ninth different female champion in the last 10 Grand Slams.

With a combined age of 42, they were the youngest pair of female Grand Slam finalists since the 2008 French Open when 20-year-old Ana Ivanovic beat 22-year-old Dinara Safina.

And whoever triumphed in Paris meant five of the WTA Tour’s seven biggest tournaments so far in 2019 have been won by players aged 23 or under.

Going into the final, the average age of all tournament champions this year was 23.6 years – the youngest since the 2008 season.

The triumph for Barty, who turned 23 in April, means that figure will stay about the same.

British number one Johanna Konta has pulled out of the Nottingham Open, with the main draw due to start on Monday.

The 28-year-old announced her decision on social media, a day after she was defeated in her first ever French Open semi-final, by Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova.

“It’s one of my favourite events and the courts are wonderful,” said Konta.

“I certainly look forward to seeing all the fantastic fans back there again next year.”

• Konta loses to Czech Vondrousova in semi-final

Konta has appeared in the past two Nottingham Open finals, and last year was defeated by new French Open champion Ashleigh Barty.

The competition is one of the first events of the grass-court season, which culminates with Wimbledon, a tournament that begins on 1 July this year.

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World number one Novak Djokovic’s bid to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time was ended by Dominic Thiem in the French Open semi-final.

Thiem beat the 32-year-old 6-2 3-6 7-5 5-7 7-5 in the semi-final, which began on Friday but was interrupted by bad weather three times.

The fourth seed will face 11-time champion Rafael Nadal on Sunday, a repeat of last year’s final.

Thiem, 25, is the first Austrian player to reach a second Grand Slam final.

“It was an unbelievable day for me,” said Thiem, who had never beaten a world number one at a major before.

Friday’s play was suspended once, then cancelled because of wind and rain in a move criticised by former players and journalists., who pointed out that the skies later cleared with daylight still left.

Nadal’s semi-final win over Roger Federer took place earlier on Friday so was not affected by the suspension, while Thiem wrapped up victory on Saturday afternoon after the third break in play because of rain.

For 2016 champion Djokovic, who had won 26 Grand Slam matches in a row, defeat ended his hopes of becoming the first man in the Open era to hold all four major titles at once on two separate occasions.

• Nadal reaches final after masterclass against Federer
• Relive Thiem’s semi-final win

Deja vu?

Thiem lost in straight sets to Nadal in last year’s final, but has long been heralded as a future Grand Slam champion – with the French Open seemingly his best chance on his favoured surface.

The final may go differently this year as Thiem has a new coach havinge started working with Chilean Olympic gold medallist Nicolas Massu three months ago.

Thiem, who was playing his fourth semi-final at Roland Garros, can also take confidence from his win against Nadal on clay at the Barcelona Open in April.

The world number four went on to win his 13th tour title at the tournament and reached the semi-finals in Madrid in May before losing to Djokovic.

The French Open is Thiem’s most successful Grand Slam. He reached the US Open quarter-final in 2018 but has never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon or the Australian Open.

Djokovic frustrated by weather and line calls

Thiem and Djokovic had already been affected by the weather at Roland Garros. Both players had to play quarter-finals on Thursday after rain also stopped play on Wednesday.

After being broken twice in the first set, Djokovic asked the umpire whose responsibility it was to decide whether it was too windy to continue, but play carried on and he dropped a set for the first time this tournament.

The world number one looked increasingly frustrated on Saturday, getting a warning for exceeding the 25 seconds allowed to take a serve and then speaking angrily with the umpire after losing the third set.

“Well done, you made yourself a name. You made yourself recognisable now,” said Djokovic, who questioned several line calls during the match.

Rain interrupted play for a third time, with the match stopped for over an hour meaning the women’s final did not start at 14:00 BST as scheduled.

And as soon as the players returned to the court, a close line call gave Thiem break point and prompted another discussion between Djokovic and the umpire.

The Serb saved the break point and went on to break back in the next game only for Thiem to then immediately break once more. He then had two match points on his serve, but Djokovic won the game to make the score 5-4 to the Austrian.

Three games later, Thiem got another match-winning opportunity and this time he took the chance to reach a second successive French Open final.

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Britain’s Gordon Reid was beaten in straight sets by second seed Gustavo Fernandez in the wheelchair singles final at the French Open.

The former Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, 27, lost 6-1 6-3 to the Argentine at Roland Garros.

Scot Reid, who had beaten top seed Shingo Kunieda in the semi-finals, was appearing in his first Grand Slam final for three years.

Victory gave 27-year-old Fernandez his fourth Grand Slam singles title.

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