Zheng Qinwen vs. Barbora Krejcikova
You don’t get many matchups that feel new at a year-end championship. By the end of a season, the elite players have typically met more than once on a significant stage over the previous 10 months.
But Zheng-Krejcikova feels new. As Zheng has risen over the past two years, Krejcikova has spent a lot of time on the sidelines. They’ve crossed paths just once, last fall on a hard court in Zhengzhou, where Zheng won 6-4 in the third set.
A result that close gives us almost no information on who might win when they play again in the first semifinal in Riyadh on Friday. Their current form doesn’t help much either, since they’ve both hit the ball well enough, and confidently enough, to make it this far.
Krejcikova came to the WTA Finals having played just two matches since winning Wimbledon, and said that the idea of making the semis was “imaginable” when she started the week. But she picked up right where she left off in Centre Court. She nearly beat Iga Swiatek, then took out Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff in straight sets to advance. This hard court appears to be her liking, because for the majority of her time on it, she has been dictating the action.
It took Zheng a little longer to get going. She lost her opener to Aryna Sabalenka, and nearly lost the first two sets to Elena Rybakina. But something clicked in the third. She won it 6-1, then handed out two more breadsticks to Jasmine Paolini in her final match.
