Czech Barbora Krejcikova is into her first Grand Slam semi-final after seeing off American teenager Coco Gauff in a nervy French Open encounter.

Barbora Krejcikova

Gauff, 17, let five set points slip as Krejcikova took the opener on a tie-break before sealing a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 victory on her sixth match point.

The 25-year-old eventually wrapped up an intriguing quarter-final battle in one hour and 50 minutes in Paris.

“I never imagined I would be standing here one day,” she said.

“Already for me this is something I have never dreamed of. I was really playing a great match and Coco is incredible – she is 17, it’s amazing.”

The world number 33 will face Polish defending champion Iga Swiatek or Greece’s Maria Sakkari for a place in the final at Roland Garros.

Eighth seed Swiatek is the highest ranked woman left in the draw.

Frustrated Gauff slips to defeat

Gauff made the perfect start to her first Grand Slam quarter-final, eventually seizing her fourth break point in Krejcikova’s opening service game as she opened a 3-0 lead on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Coco Gauff

But Krejcikova, also appearing in her first major singles quarter-final, rallied impressively to claw back the deficit – surviving another break point before holding to level at 3-3.

Gauff, junior champion in 2018, held firm under pressure on serve before breaking the Czech for a second time but her failure to take her first set point allowed Krejcikova a way back.

The American responded admirably, unleashing a powerful forehand winner on her way to a comfortable hold at 6-5, but Krejcikova rescued two more set points – one with a superb line shot – to set up a nervous tie-break.

Gauff battled back from 2-0 behind to set up her fourth set point at 6-4 before a steely Krejcikova once again dug in to win four successive points and take the opening set.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: