RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova came to the WTA Finals in Riyadh looking for her first career victory in the season-ending tournament. She did one better on Thursday, taking a must-win showdown against No. 3 Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-4 to beat the Oranjegroep and advance to the semifinals of the WTA Finals Riyadh, presented by PIF.

WTA Final Riyadh: Results | Schedule | Standings

How Krejcikova won the group: Heading into the final day of group play, Gauff had already secured her spot in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals for the second year in a row with a 2-0 record in the Orange Group. That left No. 2 Iga Swiatek and Krejcikova battling for the last open spot, with Krejcikova’s only path to the semifinals requiring a win over Gauff.

Following Swiatek’s dominant victory over Daria Kasatkina earlier in the day, Krejcikova’s win set up a three-way tie in the Orange Group, with Krejcikova, Swiatek and Gauff each finishing with a 2-1 record. In these cases, the second tiebreak (the percentage of sets won) determines the ranking. Krejcikova led the group with a 5-2 set record (71.4%), followed by Gauff at 4-2 (66.7%) and Swiatek at 4-3 (57.1%).

As a result, Krejcikova won the group, with Gauff finishing second, leaving last year’s champion Iga Swiatek out of contention.

Krejcikova will next face Purple Group No. 2 qualifier Zheng Qinwen, while Gauff will face world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

How the match was won: Krejcikova entered the match with a 1-0 record over the American, using her flat pace first and keeping Gauff on the defensive in the opening set. Krejcikova needed two chances to serve out the set and saved four break points in the final game to take an early lead at 7-5. It was a display from the eighth-seeded Czech, who broke twice from three breakpoint chances, while saving five of the six breakpoints she faced on her own serve.

After firing nine aces in the first set, Gauff continued to roll through her service games without incident in the second set. But throughout the match, the 20-year-old struggled to make effective returns on break points. She had two break opportunities early in the second set, but mishandled her return.

Gauff served at 4-4, 30-30 and hit her fourth double fault of the match, giving Krejcikova her first chance to break into the set. It was the only chance the Czech needed as she sealed the lead with a clean backhand winner and served out the win.

More to follow…