Monique Barry and Park So-hyun had a pretty straightforward run through to the doubles final in Erwitte, winning all three of their earlier matches in straight sets, while their Dutch opponents, Madelief Hageman and Klara Veldman, had had to play a match tie-break in their quarter-final. It was a relief to see that the copious strapping which had been on Park’s left leg for the semi-final was no longer in evidence, as she and her almost twin (Barry is just eleven days older) took the court as favourites to lift their first trophy together.
Veldman took Park’s first point with a beautiful forehand winner down the tramlines, but Park did the same off the backhand wing on the next point and didn’t lose another. Veldman dropped herself back to deuce when she double faulted, and lost the deciding point when she a forehand into the net to end a short rally with Park. Three unforced errors from Barry, the last a forehand into the net to end a good rally, cost her a break of serve as well, and the other left-hander in Hageman held safely to level the scores.
Park went one than in her first attempt when she held to love in her second game, and Barry hit a beautiful cross-court backhand volley to end a good rally when Veldman served next. That game also contained the first of the great rallies that went for 20 shots or more, this one lasting between only Veldman and Park for 21 before the Dutch player hit a forehand over the baseline to give away a break point. Barry did the same to take them to deuce, and Park was forced into a return error to lose the deciding point.
Barry ended up at deuce as well, but her road to that point was much tougher. An attempted overhead volley from her to end a good rally went over the baseline to make the score 0-40, and she was a bit lucky that Hageman and Veldman then hit unforced errors before a great serve forced Hageman’s next backhand return into the net. There was a good rally on the deciding point, but an inside-out forehand volley from Park at the net proved to be the winning shot.
Hageman’s beautiful forehand winner down the singles sideline was followed by a lovely backhand return down the tramlines from Park, but all that did was save the first game point before Barry’s next forehand return ended in the net. Hageman then hit a beautiful forehand return down the tramlines to take Park to 15-40. She then pulled an overhead forehand wide to end a good rally before Barry was forced to hit a backhand volley into the net to lose the game.
Veldman was now serving for the set, and the game started with two great 15 shot rallies. The first was just between Veldman and Park, with Veldman losing it when she hit a cross-court forehand wide, and Hageman lost the second when forced to run the ball along the ground into the net. A winning forehand volley from Barry made the score 0-40 and, although her next backhand return went into the net, Hageman hit a cross-court forehand over the baseline to give the break straight back.
There were six points in Barry’s final game of the set, and five of those hosted good rallies. The second was absolutely terrific, lasting for ten shots before Veldman hit a forehand down the line which deflected away off Barry’s racquet. Hageman brought up a break point when she finished a ten shot rally with a backhand volley that she hit into the middle of the court via the net cord, and Barry sent a forehand long to lose the last rally.
Now it was Hageman’s turn to attempt to serve out the set, and this game provided the best rally in the match. The fantastic exchange featured all four players, and it lasted for 22 shots before Barry hit a beautiful overhead volley down the left side of the court. She hit her next forehand volley into the net, however, and that gave the Dutch pair three set points. Hageman lost the first with a backhand into the net, and Veldman gave away the deuce with a poor overhead backhand volley into the net to end another good rally.
Park got the deciding point safely back in play, and it was her partner who completed what became a full rotation of lost service games when she hit a beautiful cross-court forehand volley to take them to a tie-break. It became a total rout, Barry losing Park’s first point with a backhand volley into the net before hitting a forehand wide to lose a 13 shot rally with Hageman on her own first point.
She double faulted on the next point before overhitting a backhand return off Hageman, handing the Dutch pair six set points as they changed ends. Only one of those was needed, as Park swung a cross-court forehand wide to end the set after 53 minutes.
Hageman held safely to start the second set before Park held to love, with the latter then making the first addition to the highlights package when she hit a beautiful winning backhand volley in Veldman’s first game. Barry gave away a break point on her own serve when she hit a backhand into the net to lose a good rally, but Park saved that with a fabulous swinging cross-court forehand volley to end a great rally after 14 shots before winning the deciding point with a lovely cross-court overhead backhand volley.
An overhit forehand volley from Hageman cost her break points, and Barry converted the first of those with a beautiful backhand volley at the net. Veldman then hit a lovely soft backhand volley to end a good rally between Park and Hageman and take the score to deuce, but Barry won that game as well when she finished the deciding point with a backhand volley into the left tramline.
Veldman started her second game with a fabulous forehand winner down the tramlines, but she conceded a break point when she was forced to hit a backhand into the net at the end of a good rally between herself and Park. Hageman saved that by hitting a gorgeous inside-out forehand volley to end the fantastic rally that came next, and Park lost the deciding point when she hit a cross-court forehand into the net.
There hadn’t been an ace until this point, but Barry started the next game by rocketing one down the middle past Veldman, and she did the same to Hageman three points later. She topped that off with the shot of the match, a wonderful cross-court forehand lob to win the game that must have landed on the sideline. Hageman won only one point in her next game before a forehand return from Park that flew off Veldman’s racquet completed the break which finished the set after 34 minutes.
The match tie-break started with a great rally between Barry and Hageman after Veldman had hit the initial return, and it ended after 20 shots when Veldman chimed in again with a forehand volley into the left tramline. She gave that mini-break straight back when she hit a cross-court backhand into the net, but Barry did the same with a backhand volley to lose Park’s first point.
There were great 16 shot rallies on both of Hageman’s points, either side of the first change of ends, and Barry was forced into a backhand error to lose the first before winning the second with a beautiful overhead volley. An unreturnable serve from Barry to Hageman levelled the scores, but she lost her second point when Park’s overhead volley flew long.
Once again the mini-break was immediately cancelled out, this time by an easy backhand winner through the middle of the court from Park, and Veldman lost her second point as well when she hit an inside-out backhand into the net to end a good rally between herself and Park. That put the top seeds in front for the first time, and they went further ahead when Hageman hit a forehand into the net on the last point before they changed ends for the second time.
Barry lost the great rally on the next point when she was forced to hit a forehand volley into the net, and this time it was Veldman who levelled the scores when she finished a short rally with a cross-court overhead volley. Hageman lost her second point as well when she was forced to hit a cross-court forehand wide at the end of another good rally, and that meant Park just needed to win both her serves to take the title.
She smashed away a volley to win the first and bring up two Championship points, and Barry took care of the second when she finished a short rally with an inside-out forehand winner. The final score was 6-7 (0), 6-3, 10-7, and the match had taken an hour and 46 minutes. It was Barry’s 13th ITF doubles title and Park’s ninth.