Barbora Krejcikova, this year’s Wimbledon champion, defeated Coco Gauff 7-5 6-4 to go to the quarterfinals of the WTA Finals in Riyadh. Krejcikova moved to 2-0 in her head-to-head versus Gauff.
Krejcikova will face Zheng Qinwen, the second-ranked player in the Purple Group, while Coco Gauff will face Aryna Sabalenka, the world number one.
Following Swiatek’s victory over Daria Kasatkina and Krejcikova’s win over Gauff. Krejcikova, Gauff, and Swiatek all ended with the same 2-1 record in the Orange Group. The standings were based on the proportion of sets won. Krejcikova won her group with a 5-2 record. Gauff finished second at 4-2, with Swiatek third at 4-3.
Krejcikova broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Gauff broke back in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. Krejcikova broke for the second time in the 11thgame to 6-5 lead and served out the first set on her second set point after saving four break points to won the first set 7-5. She converted two of the three break points and saved five of the six break points she faced on her serve. Gauff made her fourth double fault at 4-4 30-30 to face the first break point. The Czech player converted her first break point with a backhand winner and served out the win.
Krejcikova fended off 11 of 12 break points she faced.
“Well I was definitely super excited to be here, to come here, to qualify to play against the best ones. I don’t really know where everything started to come together. Before the tournament, I had a couple 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.”
