Week in Review: Krejcikova scores straight A's with win in Dubai

4m read 27 Feb 2023 2y ago

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The Insider Wrap is a recap of everything you need to know from the week that was. Last week, former No.2 Barbora Krejcikova

View Profile sent a message with her title run at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, while Camila Giorgi captured her first title in two years at the Akron Merida Open.

Performance of the Week: Barbora Krejcikova

The numbers behind Krejcikova's incredible run to her first WTA 1000 title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships speak for themselves. Four Top 10 wins, including defeats of the Top 3 players and a second consecutive victory over No.1 Iga Swiatek

in the final. With six singles titles won over the past three seasons, Krejcikova now sits only behind Iga Swiatek (12) and (7) for most titles won since the start of 2020.

Champions Corner: Behind Krejcikova's run in Dubai

4 - Barbora Krejcikova

View Profile has defeated four top-10 players at the Dubai Tennis Championships 2023: as many as in her previous 24 tournaments played. Week!@WTA_insider @WTA | #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/2H4drOSVCJ
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) February 25, 2023

It was a full-circle moment for the 27-year-old Czech. It was at 2021 Dubai that she shed her label as a doubles specialist. Ranked No.63, she advanced to her first WTA singles final. That run would spark her rise. A few months later, she was a newly minted French Open champion and finished the year inside the Top 5. She reached a career high No.2 last season but was largely derailed by an elbow injury that sidelined her until May.

It would have been easy to believe Krejcikova's best was behind her, but with her title run on Ostrava last fall, and now Dubai, it appears her clean-striking, all-court tactical game is back.

Surprise of the Week: Rebecca Peterson

The 27-year-old Swede came through qualifying to make her first final in four years at the Akron Merida Open. Peterson scored impressive wins against Lyon champion Alycia Parks

and top seed , and she was the only player to take a set off eventual champion Camila Giorgi. Having hit a career-high No.43 in 2019 before injuries, Peterson will return to the Top 100 on Monday.

Honor Roll

Camila Giorgi: The Italian enjoyed a dominant week to win her fourth career title and first since winning Montreal two years ago.

Veronika Kudermetova

View Profile and Liudmila Samsonova

View Profile : The duo cemented their new partnership in Dubai, winning the doubles title while dropping only one set. The title is Samsonova's first on the doubles circuit.

Champions Corner: Kudermetova, Samsonova capture the first WTA 1000 title of the season

Jessica Pegula

View Profile : The American continues her strong start to the season, which includes a United Cup win, third consecutive Australian Open quarterfinal, Doha final and now a WTA 1000 semifinal appearance in Dubai. By making the quarterfinals, Pegula became the first American to make five consecutive WTA 1000 hard-court semifinals.

2 - Coco Gauff

View Profile is the first player to feature in two different semifinals in WTA-1000 events before turning 19, after having done so in Rome 2021 – since 2009. Diamond.@WTA @WTA_insider @DDFTennis | #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/33P0gU9ay1
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) February 23, 2023

Coco Gauff

View Profile : The 18-year-old's strong season start continued in Dubai, where she progressed to her second WTA 1000 semifinal. Gauff has become a reliable force in the early rounds of tournaments as well. She's made the quarterfinals or better at six of her past seven regular-season tournaments.

Caty McNally: The American scored a gritty win against No.3 seed Zhu Lin in the opening round in Merida and proceeded to advance to her first WTA semifinal since making her first at 2019 Washington D.C. She also added a seventh doubles title to her ledger, winning with Diane Parry

Karolina Muchova

View Profile : She was forced to retire ahead of the quarterfinals with an abdominal injury, but Muchova had a strong two weeks in the Middle East. She came within a handful of points from defeating No.4 but turned around to defeat in the Round of 16 of Dubai.

Madison Keys

View Profile : Keys scored two impressive wins in Dubai to make her first quarterfinal of the season, in Dubai, where she beat Garcia and .

Notable Numbers

4: Players who have won titles by defeating the reigning Top 3 in a single event.

2: Players who have saved match points and gone on to win a title this season. Belinda Bencic

(Abu Dhabi) and (Dubai).

5: The five longest matches of the 2023 season were all played last week in Dubai and Merida.

40+ - Only Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova (52 each) have won more than 40 WTA-1000 main draw matches in fewest encounters than Iga Swiatek

View Profile (53). Feeling.@WTA_insider @WTA | #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/19hOlLo0qn
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) February 21, 2023

13: Consecutive matches won by Aryna Sabalenka

in 2023. The Australian Open champion's streak ended in a three-set loss to Krejcikova in the Dubai quarterfinals.

6: Number of WTA 1000 finals Iga Swiatek

has made in her career. She is the second player to make six or more before turning 22, joining .

162 - Sania Mirza is the player with the most Doubles matches won in WTA-1000 events (162). Thank you!@WTA_insider @WTA | #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/Z1RhfzEdZF
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) February 21, 2023

10: Number of times Coco Gauff

has made a WTA semifinal. She is the fourth American to reach 10 or more semifinals before turning 19 in the past 30 years, along with Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

7: Number of times Gauff has reached a WTA 1000 quarterfinal, the most of any teenager since WTA 1000s were introduced in 2009.