PARIS (AP) — Unseeded Barbora Krejcikova reached her first Grand Slam semifinal by coming back from an early deficit and beating 17-year-old Coco Gauff 7-6 (6), 6-3 at the French Open on Wednesday.
Gauff led 3-0 at the outset, then 5-3, and held a total of five set points in the opener, but failed to convert any.
Krejcikova took advantage, grabbing that set by taking the last four points of the tiebreaker. She then reeled off 15 consecutive points during one stretch en route to a 5-0 edge in the second set.
Closing out the most important victory of her singles career was not easy, though: Krejcikova needed six match points to do it, raising her arms overhead when she finally won when Gauff sent a forehand wide.
Krejcikova is a 25-year-old from the Czech Republic who has won two Grand Slam doubles titles but is playing in only her fifth major tournament in singles and only once before made it as far as the fourth round. She is currently ranked a career-high 33rd and on a 10-match winning streak in singles.
