A home champion will be crowned at the Livesport Prague Open after Czech seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Tereza Martincova both won their semifinals in straight sets.
No.2 Krejcikova reached her fifth career final, fourth of the year, and third in her past four tournaments, with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Wang Xinyu in one hour and nine minutes. Earlier, No.8 Martincova had defeated No.9 Greet Minnen 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 27 minutes to make her first career final.
Sunday's title match will be the first all-Czech final since New Haven 2015, when Petra Kvitova defeated Lucie Safarova, and the third in Prague. Previously in the Czech capital, Radka Zrubakova triumphed over Katerina Siskova (née Kroupova) to claim the inaugural edition of the tournament in 1992; and in 2015, Karolina Pliskova won her fourth title over Lucie Hradecka.
Previous all-Czech WTA finals
New Haven 2015, Petra Kvitova d. Lucie Safarova 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2
Prague 2015, Karolina Pliskova d. Lucie Hradecka 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Sydney 2015, Petra Kvitova d. Karolina Pliskova 7-6(5), 7-6(6)
Hobart 2009, Petra Kvitova d. Iveta Benesova 7-5, 6-1
's-Hertogenbosch 2005, Klara Koukalova d. Lucie Safarova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
Brighton 1994, Jana Novotna d. Helena Sukova 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4
Prague 1992, Radka Zrubakova d. Katerina Kroupova 6-3, 7-5
Auckland 1991, Eva Sviglerova d. Andrea Strnadova 6-2, 0-6, 6-1
Adelaide 1988, Jana Novotna d. Jana Pospisilova 7-5, 6-4
Krejcikova dominated her clash with Wang, successfully blunting the Chinese 19-year-old's power. World No.147 Wang was appearing in her first WTA semifinal and intermittently impressed with flashes of brilliance. However, Roland Garros champion Krejcikova was able to control the match with effective serving, clever redirections and judicious net forays.
From 0-1 down, Krejcikova reeled off nine straight games to take a stranglehold of the contest. She faced just one break point, saved with a service winner in the fourth game of the match, while capturing the Wang serve five times. Wang eventually settled into a groove on serve in the second set, but was undone by 20 unforced errors to 13 winners.
Yet to drop a set 👀@BKrejcikova sweeps past Wang, dropping only 3 games! Will face fellow Czech Martincova in the final on Sunday.#PragueOpen pic.twitter.com/V7vfGUikZ1
— wta (@WTA) July 17, 2021
Krejcikova's stellar form over the past two months has now seen her win 19 of her past 20 matches across three different surfaces. The 25-year-old, perched at a career high of World No.13, won her first two titles on clay at Strasbourg and Roland Garros, made the fourth round of Wimbledon on grass (losing only to World No.1 and eventual champion Ashleigh Barty), and has now reached her first final at home on hard courts.
Earlier, Martincova delivered a similarly focused performance to beat Minnen. The 26-year-old is also currently at a career high ranking of World No.78, having cracked the Top 100 for the first time in April. She was playing her fourth career semifinal, having previously lost to Lauren Davis at Québec City 2016, Anett Kontaveit at Gstaad 2017 and Patricia Maria Tig at Istanbul 2020.
Against Minnen, Martincova jumped out to early leads in each set, and managed to hold on to both despite the Belgian battling hard from behind. Using her forehand aggressively and finishing points sharply at net, Martincova broke Minnen three times in the first set; in the second, she thrilled the home crowd with a pair of breathtaking backhand winners on the run.
Head to Head
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In the home stretch, Martincova's play became somewhat nervy, and she found her 4-1 double-break lead pegged back to 4-4. But World No.122 Minnen, playing her first career WTA semifinal, was too beset by errors to take advantage. In total, Minnen committed 24 unforced errors to 12 winners, including a netted volley to hand the break right back to Martincova.
Serving for the win, Martincova managed to save two break points before sealing her second match point after an extended rally with a hefty forehand. She will take a 2-1 head-to-head lead over Krejcikova into the final, with all of the pair's meetings so far coming on indoor hard courts.
