Valentova, Tagger Power into Semis in Prague

Tereza Valentova and Lilli Tagger are representing the WTA’s next gen in Prague. 

Valentova, 19, and Tagger, 18, reached the semifinals on Friday, joining Barbora Krejcikova and Daria Snigur. 

It was an emotional day for Valentova, the 2024 Roland Garros girls’ champion. She avenged a loss in last year’s semifinals in Prague to Marie Bouzkova by edging the defending champion in three tight sets, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6). 

Valentova, who struggled with a back issue in the first set, lost the first eight points of the second set before she mounted a comeback. She hit 42 winners to 37 for Bouzkova, and even though she won 13 fewer points than her adversary, she took advantage of a let cord winner at 6-6 in the final set tiebreak before converting her third match point. 

“Jesus Christ, it was hell, I’m still shaking,” an emotional Valentova said on court after the win. “She played incredibly, I’m just so happy.” 

Valentova improved to 6-1 in Prague lifetime with the win. She will face Daria Snigur in the semifinals on Saturday. 

About the back injury, Valentova said: “It limited me a lot, so I was a bit scared. But I fought for every single point.”

The other semifinal will feature another teenager, 18-year-old Lilli Tagger, who powered past Czech Sara Bejlek, 6-3, 6-4. After losing 6-2 6-2 to Bejlek last week in Athens, Tagger flipped the script. 

“Right now I can’t really believe that I did it, that I won the match, because last week she was playing really good,” she said. 

Tagger will face second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova on Saturday. The two-time major champion and this year’s Athens champion stretched her winning streak to eight victories with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Czech wild card Denisa Salkova. 

2021 champion Krejcikova is now 11-3 lifetime in Prague. a