Barbora Krejcikova
Unseeded Czech player Barbora Krejcikova, who has entered the final of French Open, said she kept urging herself to fight in a three-hour-and-18-minute battle that saw her beat No.17 seed Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 in the semi-finals on Thursday night.
Barbora, who will now face another first-time Grand Slam finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, said, "I think the match was really up and down. I just told myself, 'Just fight, fight, fight until the last point'. I am happy that I was really fighting."
Barbora, who is No. 33 in the world at present, was ranked 114 during last year's French Open and had to play a Challenger tournament to prepare for it. The fourth round finish at Roland Garros eight months ago powered her career and after this tournament she will most surely break into the top 20 in singles rankings.
"I actually think we both deserve to win because we played a really, really great match. But only one can win. I am really happy that it is me, that I am going to have another chance to play another match," said Barbora after her win over Maria.
Looking ahead to the final against Anastasia, the Czech player said, "Anastasia, she is really good player, really experienced. She is in a final, she must be on a roll, playing well."
"I just think it is going to be a lot of fun. I am just really going to enjoy it because I was never expecting to actually be this far during this tournament. I am just going to have fun and just going to enjoy and fight until the end.
