Barbora Krejcikova saved eight match factors in a gladiatorial duel with unseeded American Taylor Townsend, clawing her strategy to a dramatic 1-6 7-6(13) 6-3 victory on Sunday to safe a spot in the U.S. Open quarter-finals.
The two-time Grand Slam champion mounted an exhilarating showcase of resilience in New York, clinching the win in a three-hour battle to increase her U.S. Open marketing campaign. She will now face one other American and final yr’s runner-up Jessica Pegula.
“I still cannot believe I’m standing here and having an interview with you,” Krejcikova stated.
“To be honest I’m totally enjoying this crowd, even though it’s not for me, it’s for the Americans, it’s fine… I know it’s not for me, I wish we had such a tournament in the Czech Republic.”
Townsend got here out firing, breaking Krejcikova twice early with sharp returning and clear ball-striking, whereas the Czech’s errors solely eased her path. The American by no means wavered on serve and broke once more to shut out the set in below half an hour.
The second set changed into a rollercoaster as Townsend broke early and seemed prepared to drag away, however a double fault helped Krejcikova break again.
From there they traded holds and tense moments, Townsend squandering the primary of her match factors on return earlier than Krejcikova did not serve out the set to power a nail-biting tiebreak.
The match reached peak drama as Townsend piled up match factors solely to observe them go begging by way of errors or see Krejcikova fend them off with gutsy winners.
The tiebreak changed into pure chaos. Townsend earned a triple match level at 6-3, however Krejcikova clawed again. Townsend then thought she had it received on her fifth likelihood, solely to see the Czech’s forehand clip the road.
Krejcikova squandered three set factors of her personal earlier than she lastly transformed on her fourth alternative with an overhead smash to take it 15-13.
The 25-minute duel, the longest tiebreak of the event to date, had the group buzzing, with different gamers pausing apply to observe the drama unfold on the screens.
Visibly fatigued in the third set, the pair traded breaks till the Czech seized the higher hand to serve for the match.
After lacking her first match level, Krejcikova transformed the second, leaving Townsend in tears because the Czech celebrated her hard-fought victory.
