Estonian line judge's French Open final a poignant one this year
This year's French Open tennis women's final was a special one for Estonian line judge Kairi Karpa as not only was she one of just a few selected from the roster of 330 officials at the competition to serve in the match between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka, but it was also likely Karpa's last ever final in that role, after over 20 years' service.
Saturday's final saw the American Gauff take her second Grand Slam singles title and her first French Open win after she beat Sabalenka, who towards the end was down to using Russian curse words on court, in three sets, 6–7 (5), 6–2, 6–4.
Karpa called it a great honor to once again be chosen for the final line umpire cadre, and this year's tournament was a highly emotional one for her, since it was very likely her last at Roland Garros.
"I believe this was my last time working as a line umpire at the Roland Garros tournament, as major changes have occurred in this area at other Grand Slam tournaments. Perhaps it was the last time working as a line umpire at all," she said. "I'm very happy to have experienced very exciting moments working as a line umpire around the world."
She gave a: "Big thanks to [Estonian tennis association chair] Allar Hint, who invited me to be a line umpire at the Fed Cup in June 2004 – that is where it all started!"
Estonia's best progress to date at the French Open so far as players go is Kaia Kanepi's two quarter-final appearances, in 2008 and 2012.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Kristjan Kallaste
