- dailynews.co.za - Sport - 10/07/2024 15:06

Ruthless Elena Rybakina sets up Barbora Krejcikova Wimbledon semi-final

Barbora Krejcikova reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time on Wednesday with a straight-sets victory over fellow former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko as the Czech turned the corner on a testing season.Krejcikova, the 31st seed, won 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) and will face 2022 champion Elena Rybakina for a place in Saturday's final."I told myself that I'm going to leave here everything I have and I'm really happy that I did and it's a great moment for me," said Krejcikova, who saw Ostapenko undone by 35 unforced errors."It's an unbelievable moment that I'm experiencing right now in my tennis career."Victory for the 28-year-old Krejcikova comes after a miserable run in 2024.She was off tour for two months with a back injury and then illness.Her run to the Birmingham quarter-final last month allowed her to celebrate match wins for the first time since Abu Dhabi in February."It was a very, very difficult period. It was actually super difficult even before this tournament. I really want to thank my team that is there today," said Krejcikova."There have been many doubts from inside but also from the outside world but I'm super happy that I never give up and that I'm standing here right now and that I qualified to be in the semi-finals."On Wednesday, Krejcikova claimed the only break of the opening set to lead 2-1 and swept ahead on the back of winning 95 percent of first-serve points.Ostapenko had defeated Krejcikova in the Birmingham grass-court final last season but was unable to carve out a single break point against the Czech in the first set.The 2018 Wimbledon semi-finalist finally broke through in the fourth game of the second set for a 3-1 lead and backed it up with a hold.However, the 13th-seeded Latvian went dramatically off the boil as Krejcikova reeled off the next four games for a 5-4 lead.Ostapenko clung on to break the Czech in the 10th game but 2021 French Open champion Krejcikova played the more composed tie-break to seal the victory.AFP