Krejčíková was the first to beat Sabalenková this year! In Dubai, she was knocked off the canary

Barbora Krejčíková in 2023, she has never beaten a Top 30 player, but in Dubai she scalped Irina Begu and rebounded to valuable scalps: Darya Kasatkina (8th in WTA), Petra Kvitova (15th) and even Aryna Sabalenková (2nd), which she stepped on today in her first quarter-final of the year.

This year Sabalenkova triumphed in Adelaide and at the Australian Open, where she celebrated her first Grand Slam title. In Dubai, she lost a set to Latvian defending champion Jelena Ostapenko for only the second time this season, but she won the next four sets 6-0, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 and impressively entered her 14th match this year with Krejčíková.

The native of Minsk led 6-0 and 3-1, but in the end she was unable to win even the third match. The Czech tennis player patiently waited for her chance, which came against an almost constant opponent for a long time. In the fifth game of the second set, she recorded her first break, which injected fresh blood into her veins.

Krejčíková took a breather for the turn and did not face a break point until the end of the match. At 0-6, 5-6 and 30-30, she was two balls away from defeat, but she did not let the favorite reach the match point. In the ensuing tie-break, she won six straight exchanges to force a third set.

She entered it by winning the first fifteenth and a Czech group of fans in the audience called out ‘Je to doma’. Krejčíková couldn’t help but smile and immediately lost two balls, but held her serve. Sabalenkova, caught off guard by the process, arrived by winning five games in a row and won 0-6 7-6 6-1 after two hours.

How’s that from Barbora!? ‍@BKrejcikova snaps Sabalenka’s streak with a 0-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 comeback win in Dubai!#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/cfEKHnCOf2

— wta (@WTA) February 23, 2023

Down 0-6, 1-3…@BKrejcikova just needed a few ‘funny words’ from her Czech fans! #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/p9ggWmkXSG

— wta (@WTA) February 23, 2023

“She entered the match brilliantly, she almost didn’t make any mistakes. I just waited for a chance and hoped that it would turn in my favor. I just fought for every ball. I never give up, no matter what the score,” explained the native of Ivančice.

“And I was helped a lot by the Czech fans, whom I thank for their huge support. They made the situation a lot easier for me, saying funny things to lighten things up and make me relax. I felt at home here, like when I played in Ostrava last year,” laughed a moved Krejčíková a few tens of seconds after the unexpected turn.

She beat a Top 10 player for the ninth time in her career and the first time she did it twice in one tournament. She is celebrating her second most valuable scalp four months after she defeated world number one Iga Šwiateková in the final of the indoor tournament in Ostrava last fall.

The injured Muchová resigned
Last year’s finalist Krejčíková will compete for the final in revenge for her defeat in the round of 16 of this year’s Australian Open with the world number three Jessica Pegula from the USA (h2h 0-1).

The American advanced today without a fight after withdrawing Karolíny Muchováwho was supposed to fight for her first semi-final since the Australian Open 2021 the day after Belinda Bencicová’s scalp.

Muchová imitated yesterday’s resignation of sick compatriot Karolína Plíšková (illness), thanks to which Poland’s Iga Šwiateková advanced the fight.

The hot world number one Šwiateková, who has lost a total of eight games in the last five matches, will challenge in the semi-finals Cori Gauffova. (h2h 5-0). The 18-year-old American did not win a single set in five mutual duels with the Polish woman three years older, and in the four meetings last year she never played more than four games.

Gauff defeated her compatriot 6-2 7-5 in the quarterfinals Madison Keysovou and equaled her maximum at the WTA 1000 events. The finalist of last year’s Roland Garros will aim for the fifth overall against Šwiatek.