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Defense of the title in the “Magic Paris”!
Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies have once again won the doubles competition at the French Open.
16 months after the historic Roland Garros coup, the pair from Coburg and Cologne triumphed again on Saturday. In the final, the “KraMies” successfully defended their title against US Open winners Mate Pavic / Bruno Soares (Croatia / Brazil) with a 6: 3, 7: 5.
At the award ceremony it was clear that she herself could hardly believe it. “If someone had told us last year that we would come back and defend the title, we would have asked them: How many beers did you have?” Mies said at the awards ceremony.
Krawietz and Mies confirm historic coup
Krawietz and Mies were the first doubles team to successfully defend the title since 2012. All in all, they are only the fourth men’s doubles in professional tennis history since 1968 to successfully defend their title at the French Open.
For its second success, Krawietz / Mies raised almost 320,000 euros.
Last year Krawietz and Mies made a historic coup at Roland Garros. As the first German double in 82 years, he had triumphed in Paris.
“This place is magical. It is difficult to capture,” said Mies visibly moved after the repetition of the sensational triumph: “This is incredible, this is unreal. I don’t know how long it will take me to realize this this time.” And Krawietz announced: “Tonight we will accelerate as best we can, and then we will look further.”
Mies warns in advance: “The hottest double of the tour”
The two had only played Pavic / Soares once before and lost at Cincinnati in 2019. “You are currently the hottest double on tour,” Mies had warned beforehand; after all, opponents had only triumphed at the US Open in New York in September.
The Germans had fond memories of Pavic: alongside Austrian Oliver Marach, the Croatian was no obstacle on the road to winning the title in the third round last year.
Boris Becker had already euphorically appreciated the entrance to the final. Winning a Grand Slam title was “difficult enough to actually defend impossible,” said the six-time Eurosport champion: “Having the opportunity to defend the title is incredibly strong.”
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Krawietz with strong returns
After 19-year-old Polish Iga Swiatek won the women’s singles title with her final win against American Sofia Kenin, Krawietz and Mies were able to play on Philippe Chatrier’s court in the late afternoon.
As in the semi-finals, 28-year-old Krawietz came back strong as a bear, two-year-old Mies played fast at the net – the result was the early break to 3-1.
In the last 16, Krawietz and Mies had to defend against three match points against France’s Benjamin Bonzi / Antoine Hoang, after which they displayed extremely confident performances from match to match.
German duo start strong
“If we bring out our strengths on the field, we are very difficult to play and extremely difficult to beat,” Mies had said, and he proved it with Krawietz also on Saturday, after half an hour the first set went to the defending champions.
Krawietz and Mies, cheered aloud by a handful of family and friends in the box, dominated the first dangerous situation of the match, fending off three break points at 1: 2 in the second set.
From then on, the Germans waited for their chance, which later turned out to be 5: 5, and Krawietz took advantage with a fantastic return for the break and for the preliminary decision. If he served his own second game ball, he sat down.
“My family cooks on the grill and drinks a few beers. To my friend Judy: I love you. Enjoy the party today, people,” said Krawietz, thanking his fans who had stayed home.
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With sports information service (SID)
