'I just keep believing': Bejlek arrives to reach Cincinnati semifinals
Sara Bejlek is making great escapes a habit at the Cincinnati Open. After coming from 5-1 down in the first-set tiebreak to stun World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round, the 20-year-old Czech came from a set down -- and 4-2 down in the eventual third-set tiebreak about two hours later -- to top former Australian Open champion Madison Keys 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).
Bejlek stormed to her first WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz title as a qualifier at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open in February -- but hadn't won more than two consecutive on tour since then. Until Cincinnati, where she's won five straight -- and knocked off four seeds and a former World No. 1 to boot.
Her key to her deepest-ever run at a WTA 1000 -- in just her sixth such main draw -- has been simple, she says.
"I just keep believing," Bejlek said after the match. "I was just trying to focus on myself no matter what is going on the other side of the court."
Bejlek’s impressive run of wins so far has also included compatriots Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Krejcikova, who join Sabalenka and Keys as former WTA 1000 champions. Since 2009, Bejlek is just the second player to defeat four such players en route to a WTA 1000 semifinal, after Pliskova did it in Madrid eight years ago.
While Bejlek's seven wins in eight days to win Abu Dhabi in February were impressive -- she topped Jelena Ostapenko, Clara Tauson, and Alexandrova along the way -- her efforts thus far in the Queen City might qualify as the best week of her young life when all is said and done.
"In this moment, I don't truly know. I'm trying to focus on every match," she said. "Yeah, I guess so."
"We had a kind of big talk with my team a couple of weeks ago, and since that moment," she added, "I feel that it's going quite well and I'm getting better in the believing in myself and improving also physically on the court."
Bejlek will face either No. 4 seed Coco Gauff or No. 10 seed Marta Kostyuk for a spot in the final.
