Things looked dire for Krejcikova early on as Rybakina raced out to a 4-0, double-break lead, but the 2021 Roland Garros champion started willing her way into the match from there, winning three of the next four games—including two breaks of the Rybakina serve—to close in to 5-3 before the Kazakh closed out the opening frame.
But from there Krejcikova was fully dialed in, and after five straight holds to start the second set she broke for 4-2 en route to evening the match at a set apiece, then broke again for 4-3 in the third en route to pulling off the stunning victory over the No. 4 seed.
The former world No. 2 was never broken after the first set—she didn’t even face a single break point in the third set.
She was asked after when she thought she could turn it around.
“I mean, since the very beginning,” she said. “I mean, since I think, like, at the beginning, she was just playing really well. She was just smashing the ball. Like, she was just putting a lot of winners. But I felt that if I’m going to just stay in the game and if I will keep fighting and try to just stay there with her, that I’m going to get my chances.”
Awaiting the No. 31-seeded Krejcikova in the final on Saturday will be No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini, a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8) winner over unseeded Donna Vekic in the first semifinal match of the day.
The two have only met once before, in the first round of qualifying at the 2018 Australian Open, with Krejcikova prevailing, 6-2, 6-1.
