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The highest seed in the draw, Barbora Krejcikova won her second consecutive match against a fellow Czech Republican to reach the semi-finals at the Rothesay Classic. Ranked 12th in the world, Krejcikova beat Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3, 6-2 in 72 minutes in their quarter-final match-up.
Krejcikova won 84% of her first-serve points and 83% of her second-serve points. She also finished the match by winning 65% of points on return on Fruhvirtova’s second serve. The 27-year-old didn’t face any break point throughout the match and converted three of five break points on her younger rival’s serve.
Following the win, Krejcikova said, “I definitely feel great, it’s nice to have three matches in your pocket. It’s always difficult to play a fellow Czech player, so I’m really happy with the way I handled the match, and I’m looking forward to be in the semis.
Every single match you have to be aggressive on the grass. To play aggressive, to go for the shots, to serve well and return well and start dictating from the very first point, I think that’s the key, and I think that I was doing that pretty well today”.
Rothesay Classic: Barbora Krejcikova regains her form, on grass
This is the second tournament in 2023 in which Krejcikova’s made it this far. The first event she did so was at the Dubai Open in February. Back then, she won the title after upsetting world no.
1 Iga Swiatek in the final. Looking to reach the final in Birmingham, Krejcikova will play Lin Zhu. Zhu completed a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Rebecca Marino in their last-eight clash. Like Krejcikova, this is also the only second time this year Zhu’s made it to the semi-finals of a WTA tournament this year.
Meanwhile, in the bottom half of the draw, fourth seed Anastasia Potapova also scored a comeback triumph against Briton Harriet Dart. Potapova won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after two hours and six minutes of play. Looking to reach the final of the Rothesay Classic, Potapova will play second seed Jelena Ostapenko.
The Latvian second seed clawed her way to victory from a set and a two-break deficit against Magdalena Frech. After two hours and 19 minutes of play, Ostapenko won 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to make her way into the semi-final.