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Barbora Krejcikova says she will always show up when there is a big challenge and that's one of the main reasons why she has had success against Iga Swiatek. Swiatek, ranked at No 1 in the world, has been pretty ruthless against her competition over the last 12 months.
In 10 finals played since the start of the 2022 season, Swiatek has ended on the winning side eight times. Those two times Swiatek ended on the losing side came in the finals against Krejcikova. Swiatek's first final loss of the 2022 season came in Ostrava, when she was beaten by Krejcikova.
Krejcikova also defeated Swiatek in this year's Dubai final.
Krejcikova on why she has had success against Swiatek
"When I’m going to play the biggest challenge that I can get and I feel very motivated by the player that I’m playing.
When I played these two times with Iga, there are so many long rallies and she just doesn’t give you any single points for free. So you kind of need to suffer a little bit out there to beat her. And I don’t mind any of these things," Krejcikova told Sports Illustrated.
After becoming a Grand Slam champion in 2021, Krejcikova started battling injuries in early 2022 she only started playing well late in the season. But Krejcikova is now back to No 12 in the world and full of confidence in her tennis.
"Why not? I’m thinking: I have good results. I’m trying to be as consistent as I can. I work really hard, every single day. So, I mean, why not? Like, why not? I’m really playing with all the best [players] and I’m playing really close matches with them.
Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. So I really don’t see a reason why I shouldn’t be in the top 10 and why I shouldn’t play with them. All year long," Krejcikova said.