A year after her Roland Garros junior sweep, Valentova earns shot at Gauff

This time last year, Tereza Valentova

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Twelve months later, the Czech 18-year-old is mixing it with the biggest names in the game. In her Grand Slam main-draw debut, Valentova came from 5-2 down in the third set to defeat wild card Chloe Paquet

View Profile 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 and set up a second-round date to circle, against No. 2 seed Coco Gauff

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Roland Garros: Draws | Scores | 411

Before last week, Valentova had never played in Grand Slam qualifying. She won all three of her matches in straight sets, and this tournament now marks her debut at the tour level.

Against Paquet, she showed a well-rounded mix of power and finesse -- just as comfortable with delicate drop shots as with rifling backhands into the corners -- and displayed a level of resilience beyond her years in mounting an impressive comeback.

At the same time as fellow Czech teenager Jakub Mensik, the reigning ATP Miami Open champion, was escaping France's Alexandre Muller over on Court 14, Valentova also faced down both an inspired local opponent and tumultuous home fans. The Court 7 crowd was firmly behind Paquet -- some even waving cardboard cutouts of the World No. 119's face -- as she came within sight of victory.

But from 5-2 down, Valentova dialed in. A stream of winners flowed from her racquet -- she tallied 41 in total -- and she lost just 10 more points as she reeled off the next five straight games. The closest she came to defeat was when Paquet served at 5-3, 30-0 -- but at 30-30, Paquet netted a forehand sitter, and Valentova needed no further encouragement to continue her comeback.

Valentova is the seventh Roland Garros junior champion this century to also win a match in the main draw the following year, following:

• Virginie Razzano (2000 junior champion, 2001 second round)
• Anna-Lena Grönefeld (2003 junior champion, 2004 second round)
• Sesil Karatantcheva (2004 junior champion, 2005 quarterfinals)
• Alizé Cornet (2007 junior champion, 2008 third round)
• Annika Beck (2012 junior champion, 2013 second round)
• Leylah Fernandez (2019 junior champion, 2020 second round)