WTA Finals: Krejcikova ends Pegula’s last-four hopes

Barbora Krejcikova ended Jessica Pegula’s chances of qualifying for the semifinals at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, defeating the sixth-seeded American 6-3, 6-3 in Riyadh on Tuesday.

A runner-up at the WTA Finals last year, Pegula suffered her second straight-sets defeat of the week and enters her final round-robin match against Iga Swiatek on Thursday anchoring the Orange Group with zero sets won.

Meanwhile, eighth-seeded Krejcikova bounced back from her opening loss to Swiatek to keep her hopes of making the final four alive.

“I was fighting for every ball and I felt that I really have to play my best tennis and I was trying to be really solid and trying to put as many balls to the other side as I could,” said Krejcikova, who picked up just her 20th match win of the season.

“I’m definitely proud. I had some very high parts of the season, especially winning Wimbledon, that’s something indescribable. And being here in the Finals is a huge privilege. It’s nice to get the win and still be part of the event.”

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Despite being ranked number 13 in the world, Krejcikova qualified for these WTA Finals thanks to a new rule introduced by the WTA that gave priority to a player who has won a Grand Slam this season, while maintaining a ranking between 9 and 20, over a player ranked number eight in the Race.

As the reigning Wimbledon champion, Krejcikova claimed the final qualifying spot in Riyadh over world number eight Emma Navarro.

Krejcikova squandered a 6-4, 3-0 lead against Swiatek in her opener two days ago and made sure there was no repeat scenario against Pegula on Tuesday.

The crafty Czech fired 11 aces and broke Pegula four times to wrap up the win in 69 minutes.