SAN DIEGO, September 16, 2023 (by Richard Osborn)
Barbora Krejcikova has spoken this week about the perspective she’s gained in her decade-plus on the pro tour; learning from the inevitable ups and downs that come both on and off the court. The Czech baseliner would call upon that experience on Friday at the Cymbiotika San Diego Open, keeping her cool in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, two-hour, 21-minute comeback against American Danielle Collins. The fourth-seeded wildcard is now into her third final of 2023.
What an effort 🫡@BKrejcikova comes from a set down to defeat Collins and reach her 11th Hologic WTA Tour singles FINAL! #SanDiegoOpen pic.twitter.com/GIXBgBkvJR
— wta (@WTA) September 15, 2023
What makes her so tough to put away? “Because I never give up,” said the 27-year-old. The 2021 Roland Garros titlist has struggled with her service game through three matches at Barnes Tennis Center, amassing 19 double faults in all. But Krejcikova seemed to rediscover her rhythm bit by bit as her match against Collins progressed on Day 5. “It was really difficult,” she said of the first-time encounter. “I expected that Danielle was going to play good tennis. She’s an aggressive player. In the first set, she was playing really well. But a tennis match is [winning] two sets. I kept fighting. I’ve definitely been working hard, and have been preparing for this.” Krejcikova’s opponent in Saturday’s final at 4 p.m. (PDT) will be the resurgent Sofia Kenin, who prevailed in an all-American semifinal showdown with Emma Navarro, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, in two hours and 10 minutes. They have met just one before, on clay in Rome in 2021, with Krejcikova winning, 6-1, 6-4, in the second round. Kenin, back up to No. 93 after falling outside the Top 400 last year, is into her first final in more than three years. She captured the Australian Open and rose to a career-high No. 4 in 2020. Navarro, 22, was coming off the first Top-10 win of her career, a 6-4, 0-6, 7-6(4) quarterfinal upset of eighth-ranked Maria Sakkari. Appearing in her first 500-level semifinal, she pushed her more experienced opponent to the very limit. Despite the loss, she is projected to crack the Top 50 in the WTA rankings next week. Kenin finished with 38 winners to 42 unforced errors, and totaled two aces to seven doubles faults.
Cymbiotika San Diego Open – Barnes Tennis Center$ 780,637September 11-16 2023Results – Friday, Sep 15SF – [1] B. Krejcikova (CZE) / K. Siniakova (CZE) d. M. Kato (JPN) / A. Sutjiadi (INA) 64 75SF – [WC] D. Collins (USA) / C. Vandeweghe (USA) d. [2] S. Aoyama (JPN) / Z. Yang (CHN) 75 46 10-7SF – [WC] S. Kenin (USA) d. [Q] E. Navarro (USA) 62 57 64SF – [WC] [4] B. Krejcikova (CZE) d. D. Collins (USA) 36 75 62Schedule – Saturday, Sep 16BARNES STADIUM starts at 04:00 PM[WC] S. Kenin (USA) vs [WC] [4] B. Krejcikova (CZE)[30 minutes after singles] [1] B. Krejcikova (CZE) / K. Siniakova (CZE) vs [WC] D. Collins (USA) / C. Vandeweghe (USA)
