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Prague, July 19 (IANS) This year's French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova fired 26 winners in 14 games to win an all-Czech final at the Prague Open over Tereza Martincova, beating her compatriot 6-2, 6-0 in just 65 minutes.
It was the 25-year-old Barbora's third title of the year, and first on hard courts.
Barbora has now won 20 of her past 21 matches. Her only loss since May came in the fourth round of Wimbledon to world No.1 and eventual champion Ashleigh Barty.
The French Open champion did not drop a set in a title run that culminated in the third all-Czech final in the tournament's history.
Barbora had encountered a tough second round where she beat Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium 6(2), 6-4, after which she spoke about the pressure she felt playing as a Grand Slam titlist.
"During every single tournament you have one match where things don't go your way, and that was the match with Ysaline," she said.
"I couldn't find myself, it was really up and down, and she's a really tricky player. I was struggling. But the most important thing is just to get through somehow, just to fight and win, and I was able to do that. I actually felt that every single day after that I was playing better and better," Barbora told wtatennis.com on Sunday evening.
"I felt I really have to come here and play my best every single day, just so they can see me and see that I'm real.
Barbora said the home crowd made winning the title a lot easier.
"It's easier to play and fight when there are people -- Czech people. Normally, if it wasn't in the Czech Republic, I wouldn't play any tournament [this week] because I just felt really tired. But they all wanted to see me, and I felt they gave me so much energy in Paris. They've been enjoying it so much. So I felt I really have to come here and play my best every single day, just so they can see me and see that I'm real. I had to give it back to them somehow.
"That was pretty much my power -- the people came to see me, and I didn't want to disappoint them."
--IANS
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