GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Karolina Pliskova rallied from a set and a break down to beat Barbora Krejcikova 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to remain in contention for a semifinal spot at the WTA Finals.
The third-seeded Pliskova will advance if Anett Kontaveit beats Garbiñe Muguruza in the late match. Kontaveit won her opening two matches in straight sets and was already assured of advancing.
Wimbledon finalist Pliskova dropped the first set in just 25 minutes and was down 4-2 in the second before mounting a comeback.
“Obviously horrible start, horrible first set. I think was combination of both me not playing really well and (her) playing just amazing,” Pliskova said. “I´m just proud that I was able to reset and start from zero and find a bit my game, although it was not great.”
French Open champion Krejcikova finished the tournament 0-3 and is eliminated from the singles competition, but remains alive in the doubles along with Katerina Siniakova.
“I think I had amazing season. I was doing really well throughout the season and right now it’s very disappointing,” Krejcikova said. “I really want to do well in doubles with my partner. I´ll just keep going, stay focused.”
Pliskova is playing the WTA Finals for the fifth time, having reached the semifinals in 2018 and ’19. The 2020 tournament was canceled.
The 29-year-old Pliskova is trying to become the oldest player in the last four at the WTA Finals since Venus Williams in 2017.
“I think it’s the toughest tournament which I’ve played in terms of not feeling great for one single day here. But I thought I really gave myself a chance with two wins, which many times would be enough to make it to the semis,” Pliskova said. “Maybe it’s going to be enough. We don’t know”.
The WTA Finals are played in a round-robin format with the top two players from each group moving on to the semifinals.
The semifinals will be played on Tuesday and the final is set for Wednesday at the Centro Panamericano de Tenis in Zapopan.
The WTA Finals are being played in Guadalajara for this year only, with the event scheduled to return in 2022 to Shenzhen, China.