WTA Finals: Krejcikova beats Gauff to reach last five, end Swiatek title defence

Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova came to the WTA Finals in Riyadh seeking her first career win at the season-ending tournament.

On Thursday, she did one better, taking a must-win showdown against No.3 Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-4 to top the Orange Group and advance to the semifinals at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

“Well I was definitely super excited to be here, to come here, to qualify to play against the best ones,” Krejcikova said. “I don’t really know where everything started to come together. Before the tournament, I had acouple of days where we hit lightly and already during those hits, I felt quite good. And I think definitely for me, it’s a big thing that it’s the last tournament of the season.”

Krejcikova will face the No.2 qualifier from the Purple Group, No.7 Zheng Qinwen, while Gauff will take on World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Heading into the final day of group play, Gauff had already secured her spot in the WTA Finals semifinals for a second consecutive year with a 2-0 record in the Orange Group.

That left No.2 Iga Swiatek and Krejcikova vying for the last open spot, with Krejcikova’s only path to the semifinals requiring a win over Gauff.

After Swiatek’s dominant win over Daria Kasatkina earlier in the day, Krejcikova’s victory led to a three-way tie in the Orange Group, with Krejcikova, Swiatek, and Gauff each finishing with a 2-1 record. In cases like this, the second tiebreaker –percentage of sets won — determines the standings.

Krejcikova topped the group with a 5-2 set record (71.4%), followed by Gauff at 4-2 (66.7%) and Swiatek at 4-3 (57.1%).

As a result, Krejcikova won the group, with Gauff finishing second, leaving last year’s champion Iga Swiatek out of contention.