The ball landing at Barbora Krejcikova’s feet on match point appeared to come down behind the baseline.
The linesman thought so and called the …
The ball landing at Barbora Krejcikova’s feet on match point appeared to come down behind the baseline. The linesman thought so and called the shot long. A TV replay confirmed as much, and the unseeded Krejcikova was so sure she raised her arms in triumph to celebrate a berth in her first Grand Slam final at the French Open. Chair umpire Pierre Bacchi disagreed. He reversed the call, sparking a fresh round of debate about video replay and briefly delaying Krejcikova’s victory. Tennis was spared an unjust result five points later, when she hit a backhand winner to close out the biggest victory of her career. The Czech saved a match point midway through the final set and outlasted No.17-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece,7-5,4-6,9-7. « I always wanted to play matches like this, » Krejcikova said. She must like roller coasters, too. Her opponent Saturday will be 29-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who also advanced to her first major final by beating unseeded Tamara Zidansek,7-5,6-3. It was only the second time in the professional era that there were four first-time Grand Slam women semifinalists at a major tournament, and the first time since the 1978 Australian Open. The men’s semifinals Friday include a showdown between 13-time champion Rafael Nadal and 2016 winner Novak Djokovic. It’s their 58th meeting, and a rematch of last year’s Roland Garros final. The other semifinal will match No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas against No.6 Alexander Zverev, and one of them will have a shot Sunday at his first Grand Slam title. Krejcikova, a two-time major doubles champion ranked 33rd, is playing singles in the main draw of a major tournament for just the fifth time.
