RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova came to the WTA Finals in Riyadh seeking her first career win at the season-ending tournament. On Thursday, she did one better, taking a must-win showdown against No.3 Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-4 to top the Orange Group and advance to the semifinals at the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF.

WTA Finals Riyadh: Scores | Schedule | Standings

How Krejcikova won the group: Heading into the final day of group play, Gauff had already secured her spot in the WTA Finals semifinals for a second consecutive year with a 2-0 record in the Orange Group. That left No.2 Iga Swiatek and Krejcikova vying for the last open spot, with Krejcikova’s only path to the semifinals requiring a win over Gauff.

After Swiatek’s dominant win over Daria Kasatkina earlier in the day, Krejcikova’s victory led to a three-way tie in the Orange Group, with Krejcikova, Swiatek, and Gauff each finishing with a 2-1 record. In cases like this, the second tiebreaker –percentage of sets won — determines the standings. Krejcikova topped the group with a 5-2 set record (71.4%), followed by Gauff at 4-2 (66.7%) and Swiatek at 4-3 (57.1%).

As a result, Krejcikova won the group, with Gauff finishing second, leaving last year’s champion Iga Swiatek out of contention.

Krejcikova will next face the No.2 qualifier from the Purple Group, Zheng Qinwen, while Gauff will take on World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.

How the match was won: Entering the match with a 1-0 record over the American, Krejcikova used her flat pace strike first and keep Gauff on the defensive in the opening set. Krejcikova needed two chances to serve out the set, saving four break points in the final game to take the early lead at 7-5. It was a clutch display from the eighth-seeded Czech, who broke twice from three break-point chances, while saving five of the six break points she faced on her own serve. 

After firing nine aces in the first set, Gauff continued to roll through her service games without incident in the second set. But throughout the match, the 20-year-old struggled to land effective returns on break points. She held two break chances early in the second set only to mishandle her returns. 

Serving at 4-4, 30-30, Gauff struck her fourth double fault of the match to give Krejcikova her first look to break in the set. It was the only chance the Czech needed, as she sealed the lead with a clean backhand winner and served out the win.

More to follow…