Barbora Krejcikova surges into WTA Finals semis, defeats Coco Gauff, eliminates Iga Swiatek

Barbora Krejcikova took control of her destiny at the 2024 WTA Finals, defeating Coco Gauff, 7-5, 6-4 and improving to 2-1 in round robin play in Riyadh and finish first in the Orange Group.

"Definitely this is a big win for me," Krejcikova said on court. "I'm really with how I played and with my performance today. It was a really big match!"

Krejcikova and Gauff, who qualified for the semis after shocking world No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Tuesday, advanced into the semifinals alongside top seed Aryna Sabalenka, and No. 7 seed Zheng Qinwen—with Swiatek out of contention despite posting a 2-1 match record.

"This year was really up and down, and definitely the Wimbledon victory is the highest point of my career so far," Krejcikova said. "Being here, being able to qualify for the semis and playing tomorrow, it's something unimagineable before this tournament, so I'm really proud of myself and looking forward to the new challenges."

Swiatek had to win her final match against alternate Daria Kasatkina to have any hope of qualifying, but also needed Gauff to go undefeated and defeat Krejcikova in the second match of the day. Though Gauff kept things close, she ultimately struggled on key points and sent Krejcikova into the semis after one hour and 42 minutes on Center Court.

Krejcikova arrived at the WTA Finals as the lowest ranked woman to participate since the format changed to Top 8 players in 2003, qualifying by virtue of a Grand Slam wild card thanks to her winning run at Wimbledon. Despite lifting her second major title this summer, the former world No. 2 has been inconsistent elsewhere and had won just two matches since the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

Once in Riyadh, however, Krejcikova has been one of the most formidable players in the field, pushing Swiatek to the brink of defeat in her first match and steeling past US Open finalist Jessica Pegula in her second. Still, she needed to defeat Gauff to advance into the semifinals.

Gauff had been even more emphatic in Riyadh, showing the form that took her to the WTA 1000 title at the China Open and the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open semifinals through two strong wins over Pegula and Swiatek—defeating the latter for only the second time in 13 meetings.

Assured of reaching the semis regardless of her result against Krejcikova, the American was still playing for valuable ranking points and prize money, and made a solid start after Swiatek had brushed aside Kasatkina, 6-1, 6-0 earlier in the day.

Krejcikova had won her only previous match against Gauff back in 2021, where she went on to win her maiden major singles title at Roland Garros. Despite noticeably quicker conditions in Riyadh, she still had the upper hand on the 20-year-old early on, easing to a 5-3 lead and shaking off a late surge from Gauff to serve out the opening set on her second opportunity.

Gauff continued to push Krejcikova in the second set, forcing her to save two break points in her opening serve game and mitigating what has been an unreliable serve to hold the match on a proverbial knife’s edge.

But an ill-tied double fault from Gauff helped Krejcikova score a pivotal break in the ninth game, one that gave her the chance to serve for her spot in the semis. A titanic final game saw Krejcikova save four break points and Gauff save two match points, but Krejcikova kept pressing and earned a third match point off a well-struck serve.

With the match on her racquet, Krejcikova put in one last serve and made it over the finish line in under two hours. Awaiting her in the semifinals is No. 7 seed Zheng, who finished second in the Purple Group. Gauff will take on Purple Group winner Sabalenka, who clinched WTA Year-End World No. 1 on Tuesday in a rematch of their semifinal thriller in Wuhan.