French Open: Barbora Krejcikova storms into maiden Grand Slam final
What's the story
Barbora Krejcikova overcame 17th seed Maria Sakkari to book a spot in the final of the 2021 French Open. The world number 33 bounced back after losing a set (7-5, 4-6, 9-7) in the semi-final that ended dramatically. Krejcikova, who earlier knocked out America's Coco Gauff, has qualified for her first Grand Slam singles final. Here are further details.
Match
How did the match pan out?
Sakkari showed her class by breaking in the very first game of the match. However, Krejcikova broke as many as four times to stage a comeback, winning 7-5. The former held a 4-0 lead in the second set before wrapping it up in no time. Both Krejcikova and Sakkari were pumped up in the deciding set, with the former proceeding to the final.
Stats
Sakkari saved as many as four match points
Krejcikova registered a total of 126 points in the match. She hit a total of five aces as against two by Sakkari. She clinched seven out of 15 break-points. However, she recorded 49 unforced errors as compared to that of Sakkari (53). Notably, Sakkari saved as many as four match points in the final set, while Krejcikova had earlier saved one.
Krejcikova
Krejcikova to face Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final
World number 33, Krejcikova has qualified for her first Grand Slam final (singles). She had reached the fourth round at the last year's French Open, her previous-best run in the tournament. Notably, Krejcikova has a Roland Garros title in the doubles event (2018). She will now play Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in championship match. The latter defeated Tamara Zidansek to enter the final.
Twitter Post
The longest women's semi-final in Paris
Czech Mate 🇨🇿
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 10, 2021
In just her fifth Slam singles main draw, @BKrejcikova earns a maiden major final in the longest women’s semi-final match in Paris, eliminating Sakkari in epic style 7-5, 4-6, 9-7.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/1rhoSdhbY8