Krejcikova edges Gauff, locks in last semifinal spot at WTA Finals

On By Littum

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova came to the WTA Finals in Riyadh seeking her first career win at the season-ending tournament. On Thursday, she did one better, taking a must-win showdown against No. 3 Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-4 to top the Orange Group and advance to the semifinals at the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF.

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How Krejcikova won the group: Heading into the final day of the group stage, Gauff had already secured her place in the WTA Finals semifinals for the second consecutive year with a 2-0 record in the Orange Group. That left No. 2 Iga Swiatek and Krejcikova vying for the last open spot, with Krejcikova’s only path to the semifinals requiring a win over Gauff.

Following Swiatek’s dominant victory over Daria Kasatkina earlier in the day, Krejcikova’s win led to a three-way tie in the Orange Group, with Krejcikova, Swiatek and Gauff each finishing with a 2-1 record. In cases like this, the other tiebreaker – percentage of sets won – decides the standings. Krejcikova topped the group with a 5-2 (71.4%) record, followed by Gauff at 4-2 (66.7%) and Swiatek at 4-3 (57.1%).

As a result, Krejcikova won the group with Gauff finishing second, knocking out last year’s champion Iga Swiatek.

Krejcikova will next face Purple Group No.2 qualifier Zheng Qinwen, while Gauff will take on world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.

This is how the match was won: Entering the match with a 1-0 record over the American, Krejcikova first used her flat pace and kept Gauff on the defensive in the opening set. Needing two chances to serve out the set, Krejcikova saved four break points in the final game to take the early lead at 7-5. It was a clutch display from the eighth-seeded Czech who broke twice from three break point chances while saving five of the six break points she faced on her own serve.

After firing nine aces in the first set, Gauff continued to roll through his service games without incident in the second set. But throughout the match, the 20-year-old struggled to land effective returns on break points. She had two break chances early in the second set only to mishandle her returns.

After serving at 4-4, 30-30, Gauff hit her fourth double fault of the match to give Krejcikova her first look at breaking in the set. It was the only chance the Czech needed as she closed out the lead with a clean backhand winner and served out the win.

More to follow…