Hailey Baptiste saved a pair of match points to defeat two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Facing a two-time Grand Slam champion in the first round of a major? If given a choice, not many players on the WTA tour would sign up for that mission.
On a balmy afternoon inside Court Suzanne-Lenglen, Hailey Baptiste experienced the dark side of facing 2021 champion Barbora Krejcikova early at a Slam, and found the light just in time to nick out a 6-7(7), 7-6(6), 6-2 victory from two match points down.
It was a victory of fortitude for the Washington, D.C. native, who had several rough moments in the match but never capitulated under the pressure and eventually found her way to the finish line in inspiring fashion.
“I just refuse to let myself be the reason that I lose a match and really focus on being mentally strong and very positive even in the very tight, close moments,” she said.
The match was very nearly a tale of what-ifs for the No.26-seeded American. She squandered a set point in the opening set tiebreak before botching an easy volley to give Krejcikova a second set point and, shortly thereafter, the set.
“I think it was the first set when I missed a short, easy volley in the net to go up set point,” she said. “In my head I would have loved to break a racquet and scream, but I know that's not going to help me.
“Laughing it off or just being super positive immediately after, it's made a huge difference for me. I'm able to just forget about it right away."
In the end it was self-belief that helped her stiffen her resolve and fire past the former champion in a two-hour and 53-minute tussle that was a physical and mental battle from start to finish.
The 24-year-old, seeded for the first time at a major, has good reason to be confident.
Just three weeks ago Baptiste pulled a rabbit out of the hat, saving six match points to earn her first career win over a reigning world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid.
“If she was going to win it, she was going to have to earn it,” Baptiste said at the time.
Another reason for the American’s turnaround on Sunday? Synergy with her team.
Things looked to be slipping away from Baptiste when she quickly fell behind by a break in set two, but some positive reinforcement from her coaching team of Will Woodall and Franklin Tiafoe seemed to put her back on axis.
“I would say that was definitely a little bit of a turning point. I think my energy dropped after I got broken in that first game,” Baptiste said. “I knew I had to pick it up somewhere. So, yeah, I definitely needed to raise my energy and intensity. And I think my mentality, I just needed to be a bit more aggressive, and that's really what I started focusing on, pretty much until the last point.”
Baptiste followed the playbook from there, and even though she couldn’t pull away from Krejcikova in the second – the Czech missed two forehands in succession from double match point up – the determined American eventually pilfered the set.
Baptiste rested in her chair during the set break, packing a water bottle full of ice with a determined look in her eyes. The battle had been won, soon the war.
Baptiste rode the momentum through a dominant deciding set to book her spot in the second round, where China's Wang Xiyu waits.
ROLAND-GARROS
18 May - 7 June 2026
