The last four is set at the 2024 WTA Finals, and Barbora Krejcikova has entered the chat.
The 2024 Wimbledon champion hasn’t always been in top form this year, but she has been downright disruptive when she is at her best, and that was the case yet again on Thursday in Riyadh, as she delivered a clutch 7-5, 6-4 victory over Coco Gauff to claim first place in the Orange Group while simultaneously eliminating defending champion Iga Swiatek from the event.
Krejcikova, who had never won a WTA Finals match prior to this year, finishes group play at 2-1 and will face China’s Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals on Friday.
Gauff, who also went 2-1 but placed second in the group due to her percentage of sets won across her three matches, will face top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in Friday’s first semifinal.
“Definitely this is a big win for me,” Krejcikova said after the match. “I’m really happy with how I played, with my performance today. It was a really big match.”
Krejcikova improves to 2-0 lifetime against Gauff, and 9-13 lifetime against the Top-5 with the win. She saved four break points while serving out the opening set on her second opportunity.
Gauff was in control behind her serve for most of the match but she tossed in a double-fault at 4-4, 30-all in the second set and Krejcikova pounced, cracking a backhand winner to claim the break.
The Czech, who saved 11 of 12 break points on the day, served out the victory in the next game.
Krejcikova improves to 21-15 on the season – she hasn’t won with regularity, but the two-time major champion has produced some epic victories in 2024. Could this weekend be another fairy tale finish?
There will be no fairy tale for Swiatek, who defeated alternate Daria Kasatkina on Thursday, 6-1, 6-0, but was eliminated despite being in a three-way tie for first place in the group. Krejcikova won, and Gauff placed second, on the strength of the tiebreaker, which was the percentage of sets won.