Barbora Krejcikova stopped Aryna Sabalenka’s winning streak and advanced to the semis in Dubai

The 2021 Roland-Garros French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova stopped Aryna Sabalenka’s winning streak, bringing her first loss of the year. This happened in the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which has a prize fund of 2.788 million USD.

Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) defeated the second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) by 2-1 (0:6, 7:6, 6:1) after almost 2 hours of play.

The first set did not suggest such a development of the match, after the world’s No 2 Aryna Sabalenka quickly made three breaks and closed the set at 6:0. In the second set, the two exchanged early breaks and continue equally reaching a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Barbora Krejcikova quickly took a 4-0 lead and then logically won it by 7-2. Barbora Krejcikova used her impetus from winning the econ set and succeeded to close the third at 6:1. Thus she closed the match at 2-1.

Barbora Krejcikova will face Jessica Pegula (USA) in the semifinals. The American overcame the quarter-finals without playing as her opponent Karolína Muchova (Czech Republic) withdrew with an abdominal strain.

In the other semi-final meeting, the American Cori Coco Gauff will face the top-seeded Iga Swiatek. The Polish played went to the without playing after the withdrawal of Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic). The fifth-seeded Cori Coco Gauff eliminated her compatriot Madison Keys by 2-0 (6:2, 7:5).