Player of the Day: Barbora Krejcikova

Raise your hand if you had Barbora Krejcikova penciled into the finals of your Roland Garros bracket. In one of the more impressive runs of form we’ve seen in quite some time, the Czech— who won her first WTA singles title two weeks ago in Strasbourg— will ride an 11-match winning streak into Saturday’s final against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Krejcikova defeated Maria Sakkari, 7-5, 4-6, 9-7, in arguably the most thrilling match of the tournament. She saved a match point down 4-5 in the third set, and arguably won the match twice thanks to a questionable overrule. Yet the former doubles world No.1 held her nerve, breaking Sakkari’s serve at 8-7 in the third to win the match.

After the match, Krejcikova credited the late Jana Novotná for pushing her through the finish line.

“I really miss her and I really want to thank her, just because of her I am here, it’s really important for me to say this out loud."

The winner of Saturday’s final will capture their first ever Grand Slam singles title.