Wimbledon 2024: Krejcikova topples former winner Rybakina to reach first final

Czech Republic`s Barbora Krejcikova eyes the ball as she she returns it against Kazakhstan`s Elena Rybakina during their women`s singles semi-final tennis match on the eleventh day of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. Pic/AFP

Three years after making a breakthrough by winning the French Open title in 2021, Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic stormed back after losing the first set to storm into her second Grand Slam singles final after a stirring semifinal win at Wimbledon on Thursday.

The No.31 seed Krejcikova booked her spot in Saturday's summit clash after battling past No.4 seed Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback win in the second semifinal on Thursday.

Krejcikova took 2 hours and 7 minutes to turn around the match and seal victory on Centre Court and will now meet Italy's Jasmine Paolini, who had earlier scored a hard-fought victory over Donna Vekic of Croatia earlier in the day.

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Despite her lower seeding on the day, Krejcikova came into the match with a 2-0 head-to-head lead against Rybakina, and she backed that record up. For the third time in their three meetings, Krejcikova lost the first set before going the distance en route to the win.

Krejcikova handed an extremely rare Wimbledon loss to Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Rybakina entered the match with a 90.5 per cent win rate in the Wimbledon main draw (19-2 before Thursday), which had been third-best in the Open Era behind former champions Ann Jones and Stefanie Graf.

Krejcikova had faced only one Top 10 player this year before Wimbledon -- a loss to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open but she will now try to defeat two Top 10 players in a row and claim her second Grand Slam singles title.

Paolini awaits Krejcikova in Saturday's final, after squeaking past Vekic in a down-to-the-wire thriller. The Italian is the first player to make the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals in the same year since Serena Williams in 2016.

Krejcikova and Paolini have met only once before, quite some time ago and at a completely different level -- a first-round qualifying match at the 2018 Australian Open, when they were both ranked outside the Top 100. Krejcikova won that match handily 6-2, 6-1.

Despite having been a Top 10 regular for large chunks of the last few years, Krejcikova's run to the 2024 Wimbledon final was as unexpected as her 2021 Roland Garros title run, when she was an unseeded player ranked No.33.

With ailments hindering her throughout this year, Krejcikova came into Wimbledon with a 7-9 win-loss record, which even included a trip to the Australian Open quarterfinals in January.

Krejcikova started this year just inside the Top 10, but after a back injury in February took her off the tour for two months, she suffered a five-match losing streak upon return, including a 0-4 record on clay.

But things picked up dramatically once Krejcikova set foot on the grounds of Wimbledon, where she is a two-time doubles champion. Starting with a tough first-round victory over Veronika Kudermetova, ranked only six spots behind her at No.38, Krejcikova accrued several quality wins.

Krejcikova began this year 0-4 against Top 20 players, but she has now won three matches in a row versus that group. She ousted No.11 seed Danielle Collins and No.13 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the prior rounds, before grabbing her 12th career Top 10 win by upsetting Rybakina.

Krejcikova's 13 Grand Slam main-draw appearances between her first two major finals is the largest gap since her fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova played 18 majors between her 2016 US Open final and her 2021 Wimbledon final.

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