Image courtesy: WTA Official
Barbora Krejcikova, an unseeded player, advances to her maiden Grand Slam semifinal by beating 17-year-old Coco Gauff 7-6 (6), 6-3 at the French Open on Wednesday.
Gauff led 3-0 early on, then 5-3, and had a total of five set points in the first game, but none were converted. Krejcikova took advantage of the situation, winning the set by capturing the tiebreaker’s final four points. She went on to win the second set 5-0 after scoring 15 consecutive points in one run.
It took Krejcikova six match points to complete the most crucial victory of her singles career, and she raised her arms high when she eventually won when Gauff sent a forehand wide.
25-year-old Krejcikova is a Czech Republic native who has won two Grand Slam doubles titles. She is playing in only her fifth major tournament in singles and she had made it to the fourth round only once before. In singles, she is presently ranked 33rd and has a 10-match winning streak.
Gauff, who is based in Florida and was the youngest quarterfinalist in the French Open since 2006. She had a nine-match winning streak interrupted by Krejcikova. Gauff made 41 unforced errors, including seven double-faults— and after one, she mangled by whacking her racket frame three times against the ground.
On Thursday, Krejcikova will face either defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland or No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece, who was scheduled to play in the last women’s quarterfinal match.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia will face unseeded Slovenian Tamara Zidansek in the other semifinal.