No. 31 seed Krejcikova booked her place in Saturday's summit clash after battling off No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-comeback victory. 4 in the second semifinal on Thursday.
It took Krejcikova 2 hours and 7 minutes to turn the match around and seal the victory on center court and now she will face Italy's Jasmine Paolini, who had earlier achieved a hard-fought victory over Croatia's Donna Vekic earlier in the day.
Despite her lower ranking that day, Krejcikova came into the match with a 2-0 lead against Rybakina, and backed up that record. For the third time in her three matches, Krejcikova lost the first set before cruising to victory.
Krejcikova dealt an extremely rare loss at Wimbledon to Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Rybakina entered the match with a 90.5 percent Wimbledon main draw win rate (19-2 before Thursday), which had been third best in the Open Era behind former champions Ann Jones and Stefanie Graf .
Krejcikova had faced only one Top 10 player this year before Wimbledon, 10 players in a row and claimed her second Grand Slam singles title.
Paolini awaits Krejcikova in Saturday's final, after edging out Vekic in a last-minute thriller. The Italian is the first player to reach the finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year since Serena Williams in 2016.
Krejcikova and Paolini have only met once before, quite some time ago and in a completely different level round qualifying match at the 2018 Australian Open, when both were ranked outside the Top 100. Krejcikova won that match comfortably 6-2 , 6-1.
Despite being a Top 10 regular for much of the last few years, Krejcikova's run to the 2024 Wimbledon final was as unexpected as her 2021 Roland Garros title run, when she was a non-top player. series in 33rd place.
With ailments hampering her throughout this year, Krejcikova arrived at Wimbledon with a 7-9 win-loss record, which even included a trip to the Australian Open quarterfinals in January.
Krejcikova started this year inside the Top 10, but after a back injury in February kept her off the tour for two months, she suffered a five-fight losing streak upon her return, including a 0-0 record. 4 in clay.
But things improved dramatically once Krejcikova set foot at Wimbledon, where she is a two-time doubles champion. Starting with a tough first-round win over Veronika Kudermetova, ranked just six spots behind her at No. 38, Krejcikova racked up several quality wins.
Krejcikova started this year 0-4 against Top 20 players, but now she has won three straight against that group. She defeated No. 11 seed Danielle Collins and No. 13 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the previous rounds, before earning her 12th career Top 10 win by defeating Rybakina.
Krejcikova's 13 Grand Slam main draw appearances between her first two Grand Slam finals is the biggest gap since fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova played 18 majors between her 2016 US Open final and her 2021 Wimbledon final.
It took Krejcikova 2 hours and 7 minutes to turn the match around and seal the victory on center court and now she will face Italy's Jasmine Paolini, who had earlier achieved a hard-fought victory over Croatia's Donna Vekic earlier in the day.
Despite her lower ranking that day, Krejcikova came into the match with a 2-0 lead against Rybakina, and backed up that record. For the third time in her three matches, Krejcikova lost the first set before cruising to victory.
Krejcikova dealt an extremely rare loss at Wimbledon to Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Rybakina entered the match with a 90.5 percent Wimbledon main draw win rate (19-2 before Thursday), which had been third best in the Open Era behind former champions Ann Jones and Stefanie Graf .
Krejcikova had faced only one Top 10 player this year before Wimbledon, 10 players in a row and claimed her second Grand Slam singles title.
Paolini awaits Krejcikova in Saturday's final, after edging out Vekic in a last-minute thriller. The Italian is the first player to reach the finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year since Serena Williams in 2016.
Krejcikova and Paolini have only met once before, quite some time ago and in a completely different level round qualifying match at the 2018 Australian Open, when both were ranked outside the Top 100. Krejcikova won that match comfortably 6-2 , 6-1.
Despite being a Top 10 regular for much of the last few years, Krejcikova's run to the 2024 Wimbledon final was as unexpected as her 2021 Roland Garros title run, when she was a non-top player. series in 33rd place.
With ailments hampering her throughout this year, Krejcikova arrived at Wimbledon with a 7-9 win-loss record, which even included a trip to the Australian Open quarterfinals in January.
Krejcikova started this year inside the Top 10, but after a back injury in February kept her off the tour for two months, she suffered a five-fight losing streak upon her return, including a 0-0 record. 4 in clay.
But things improved dramatically once Krejcikova set foot at Wimbledon, where she is a two-time doubles champion. Starting with a tough first-round win over Veronika Kudermetova, ranked just six spots behind her at No. 38, Krejcikova racked up several quality wins.
Krejcikova started this year 0-4 against Top 20 players, but now she has won three straight against that group. She defeated No. 11 seed Danielle Collins and No. 13 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the previous rounds, before earning her 12th career Top 10 win by defeating Rybakina.
Krejcikova's 13 Grand Slam main draw appearances between her first two Grand Slam finals is the biggest gap since fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova played 18 majors between her 2016 US Open final and her 2021 Wimbledon final.
