In Thursday’s semi-final on Center Court, Barbora Krejcikova defeated Elena Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to go to her maiden SW19 final.
In the first set, Rybakina prevailed hard, taking three break points. In the second set, Krejcikova saved three break points and levelled the score.
With Krejcikova taking the lead in the seventh game of the decider with a brilliant break, the momentum started to shift. After two hours and nine minutes, the former world No. 2 finished her maiden Wimbledon semi-final in style by holding onto love to go to Saturday’s final.
Rybakina expressed her feelings after the loss and said: “I think she raised her first serve percentage in the 2nd set. My percentage dropped a little bit. It went pretty quickly. We had a lot of games in December—30 in all. I think physically, I also dropped in some important moments. I should’ve stayed more aggressive with a bit better footwork. But she was playing well, opening up the court. Also serves pretty well. I cannot say much.”
Even though Rybakina lost, she was happy for her Wimbledon run and said: “It’s definitely a pity to lose the match and be so close to the final. But as I said before, I think overall it was a positive two weeks for me. I’ve been playing pretty well in the last 4 matches. So I’m happy with the level I’m at now and also with how I felt physically on the court. For the last few months, I have been struggling a bit. I’m just trying to take only positives from these two weeks.”
Elena Rybakina in 2024
Ranked world no.4, the Kazakhstani played her last match on the 11th
of July when she capitulated to world no.32 Barbora Krejcikova 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in Wimbledon (draw).Currently, during this year the Kazakhstani achieved an overall 40-8 win-loss record. Elena clinched 3 titles in 2024 in Brisbane, Abu Dhabi and Stuttgart. Rybakina was the runner-up in Doha and Miami.
Krejcikova in Wimbledon, ranking, and results in 2024
Ranked world no.32, Barbora achieved a composed 13-9 match record in 2024. Barbora is currently playing in Wimbledon where she defeated the world no.38 Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(4) 6-7(1) 7-5, the world no.69 Katie Volynets 7-6(6) 7-6(5), the world no.83 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-0 4-3 ret., the world no.11 Danielle Rose Collins 7-5 6-3, the world no.14 Jelena Ostapenko 6-4 7-6(4), the world no.4 Elena Rybakina 3-6 6-3 6-4 and the world no.7 Jasmine Paolini .
Barbora Krejcikova will square off with the world no.7 Jasmine Paolini in the final. Their actual head to head record is 1-0 for Krejcikova.
The Czech won 7 titles in her career: 3 on hard courts, 2 on clay courts and 2 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)
Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova squared off 3 times. The head to head is 3-0 for Krejcikova. The last time they played each other, Barbora Krejcikova won 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in London (Wimbledon) on the 11th of July 2024.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.