Krejcikova sees off Kontaveit to reach Sydney Classic final
What's the story
World number four Barbora Krejcikova on Friday made a remarkable comeback from a first-set bagel to defeat Estonian player Anett Kontaveit in the semi-final of the Sydney Classic.
She lost the first set in just 29 minutes and then came back and saved seven match points to progress to the final.
Krejcikova scripted a 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (14-12) victory.
Here's more.
Context
Why does it matter?
Despite getting humiliated in the first set, Krejcikova bounced back to avenge her group stage loss to Kontaveit in last year's season-ending WTA Finals.
With this win, she also stopped Kontaveit from progressing to her fourth successive WTA final.
The victory also served as a perfect warning from Krejcikova to the fellow WTA stars ahead of the 2022 Australian Open.
Match
How the match panned out?
Kontaveit won the first set 6-0, before Krejcikova fought back, winning 6-4.
Krejcikova took the lead in the third set at 2-1 but Kontaveit leveled at 2-2.
Kontaveit earned three match points at 6-5 but was brushed off by Krejcikova as she lined up a third-set tiebreak.
The two battled up to 12-12 before Krejcikova wrapped the match by winning the next two points.
Journey
Barbora Krejcikova's road to final
Barbora Krejcikova started her campaign with a straight-set victory over Romanian player Jaqueline Cristian 6-1, 7-5 in the round of 16.
In the quarters, she dismantled France's Caroline Garcia 6-0, 6-2 at the Ken Rosewall Arena.
She defeated Kontaveit in semis.
She will next take on either Paula Badosa of Spain or Russia's Daria Kasatkina in the final.
Stats
A glance at Krejcikova's career
Barbora Krejcikova will head into the Australian Open as the number four ranked player.
She won her first Grand Slam in 2021 at Roland Garros.
Overall, she has won three titles in her career.
The two other WTA titles are - Strasbourg Open (2021) and Prague Open (2021).
She has finished as runner up twice - Dubai Open (2021) and Nurnberg (2017).