Paris [France], June 11 : Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek charged to their maiden major title as a team in style at the French Open 2023 with a convincing 6-3, 6-1 victory against Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.
The American-Croatian team won in 80 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier after converting four of their eight break points. Dodig and Krajicek defeated their unseeded opponents by winning nine out of the final ten games thanks to their creative returns and dependable netplay.
Dodig and Krajicek suffered a heartbreaking loss to Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer in the Roland Garros final last year after squandering three match points. The two did not appear to be affected by the incident on Saturday in Paris, where they outperformed Gille and Vliegen by a margin of 27 victories to 17.
Krajicek received two rewards after his victory. The American made sure he would reach No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings for the first time on Monday by winning his first major prize alongside Dodig.
"We waited 12 months for another opportunity to be here. 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," Krajicek was quoted as saying by ATP.com.
"I just want to thank my partner for the amazing run here. You [won] your first Grand Slam title, [on Monday] you are No.1 in the world and you well deserve it, so well done," said Dodig when addressing Krajicek.
"Congratulations to you guys. Obviously, you deserve it, especially after making the final this year again, so you've done a great job and congratulations to you," Sander Gille said.
"I don't think we would have thought [we would reach a major final] when we started playing together back in 2015. Dreams become goals, and I think even though we are disappointed 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," said Vliegen.
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