Krejcikova rides Rybakina punches to reach first Wimbledon final

LONDON — Barbora Krejcikova produced a comeback full of steel and resilience to reach her first Wimbledon final, showing unbendable resistance in the face of an attacking barrage from Elena Rybakina to triumph 3-6 6-3 6-4 on Thursday.

There were times when Krejcikova resembled a punch-drunk boxer as she reeled from the relentless blows being inflicted by the 2022 champion, but she hauled herself off the ropes to turn the contest on its head and set up a showdown with Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini in Saturday’s final.

Rybakina had started the contest like a piece of reliable industrial machinery, thrashing the ball to all corners of the court.

But Krejcikova would not be cowed and rummaged through her own box of tricks to find a way to turn defence into attack, eventually putting the Kazakh fourth seed on the back foot.

“I am so proud about my game and my fighting spirit today,” she said as she accepted the applause of the Centre Court crowd.

“I was trying to fight for every single ball, during the second set I was getting my momentum and when I broke her I started to be in the zone and I didn’t want to leave the zone.”

The 31st seed, whose sole Grand Slam triumph came at the French Open in 2021, had never gone past the fourth round at Wimbledon before and came into the tournament on the back of a season marred by injury and illness.

Nobody would have predicted her plotting a route through to the final but having reached her second Grand Slam showpiece, she will not be going down without a fight.

“A big fight,” she said when asked what she expects of French Open finalist Paolini, who overcame Donna Vekic in a marathon encounter earlier on Centre Court.

“I know that she is a huge fighter and she showed today, but it will be the same from me. We are playing great tennis and it will be a great match on Saturday.”

Kazakhstan’s Rybakina had been the form player in the women’s draw, mowing down her previous opponents and dropping a solitary set in her previous five matches.

She topped the tournament’s aces tally and a number of other statistical metrics, and commentators were tentatively whispering that she looked in better form than when she previously clinched the title.

• • •

LACED WITH VENOM

She looked every bit a likely winner as she tore into Krejcikova from the get-go.

She threatened to run away with the contest in the first set, racing to a 5-1 lead with her brand of full-throttle high intensity tennis.

The pressure on Krejcikova was relentless, as Rybakina’s every shot was laced with venom, and the Czech held serve just once in the opening set.

Yet after losing the opener, the 2021 French Open champion dug in and eventually fathomed the puzzle on the other side of the net.

She broke in the sixth game of the second set when Rybakina double faulted and then sent a backhand wide and eventually levelled the contest, although she spurned five set points on serve before getting over the line.

There were hints at this stage that Rybakina was feeling the pressure. While the ice-cool Kazakh, who rarely shows even a glimmer of emotion, was not screaming or raging, there was the occasional hunched shoulder and wistful glance at a ball that bounced out.

And with the momentum having shifted in her favour, the Czech took control in the decider, breaking in the seventh game when Rybakina netted an attempted dropshot.

She brought up three match points with a smash at the net before kicking off the celebrations when Rybakina sent a backhand return long.