OSTRAVA, Czech Republic— Homeland favourite Barbora Krejcikova will face top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland in the final at the Agel Open in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The unseeded Krejcikova rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 win against Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the semi-finals.
Krejcikova became the first Czech player to make the final in the event’s three-year history, despite 17 aces from Rybakina.
Reigning US Open champion Swiatek won her 10th straight match by fending off a stern challenge from hard-hitting World No.21 Ekaterina Alexandrova, eventually prevailing 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4 after 2 hours and 38 minutes of semi-final play.
The victory marks Swiatek’s 60th match-win of the season, including Hologic WTA Tour events and Billie Jean King Cup action. She is the first player to hit 60 victories in a calendar year since Caroline Wozniacki finished 2017 with 60.
Swiatek is also into her eighth final of the season and is undefeated in finals so far in 2022. Throughout her career, Swiatek is 10-1 in Hologic WTA Tour singles finals, with her only loss coming to Polona Hercog in Swiatek’s very first final at 2019 Lugano.
Krejcikova will be Swiatek’s opponent in the final. Krejcikova thrilled her homeland crowd in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Swiatek has won both of her previous meetings with Krejcikova. Swiatek won in straight sets on the hard courts of Miami last year before a difficult three-set victory on the clay of Rome two months later.
“I know that [the final is] going to be tough, and Barbora plays a little bit differently than my opponent today, so tactically I have to be ready,” Swiatek said, after her win. “It doesn’t really matter for me if it’s a final or any other round, I’m just going to give it my all.”
Alexandrova had triumphed over Swiatek in their only prior encounter, which came at the Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne early last year. But Swiatek leveled their rivalry at 1-1, despite trailing Alexandrova in winners (34 to 25) and service breaks (3 to 2) on Saturday.
In fact, Alexandrova’s 17 winners in the first set was more than double Swiatek’s eight, but there were still no service breaks in the opener. In the tiebreak, Alexandrova’s errors mounted while Swiatek’s powerful shots peaked, and the top seed stole the set.
Things turned around in the second set when Alexandrova got the first break of the day with a backhand winner down the line for 2-0. Alexandrova raced to a 5-0 lead from there and held on to collect the second set.
The decisive third set was deadlocked through 3-3 before Swiatek drew errors from Alexandrova to break at love for 4-3.
Swiatek pulled off a 12-point winning streak en route to 5-3, and powerful forehands helped the World No.1 wrap up the match two games later.
“It’s amazing what I’ve achieved in the last two weeks, so I feel really happy and really glad with the way I’m performing so far,” Krejcikova said afterward. “I’m really looking forward to playing the final in front of the Czech fans.”
The 2021 Roland Garros champion Krejcikova improves to 8-1 in Hologic WTA Tour semi-finals in her career, as she becomes the first Czech player to reach the Ostrava final in its three-year history as a tour event.
