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Elena Rybakina’s semifinal opponent at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, Barbora Krejcikova, is no stranger to the big stages, having won the 2021 French Open singles title. The Czech has now expressed her confidence in her abilities ahead of their clash on Thursday, July 11.
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, is the top favorite to win the title this year. She is in the final four with impressive victories over Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Laura Siegemund, Caroline Wozniacki, Anna Kalinskaya, and Elina Svitolina. Krejcikova, meanwhile, beat Veronika Kudermetova, Katie Volynets, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Danielle Collins, and Jelena Ostapenko.
Acknowledging Elena Rybakina in her post-match press conference ahead of their semifinal, Barbora Krejcikova said:
"We played a couple of times. I mean, she’s a great player; she’s a former champion here. She knows the courts; she knows how to play on grass; she’s very dangerous; she has a lot of weapons."
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The former World No. 2, however, showed belief in her own abilities, noting that she, too, has weapons, just like Rybakina, who is known for her threatening serve and powerful groundstrokes.
"I mean, overall, she’s a good player. As I said, she has big weapons but on the other hand I do have big weapons as well. I expect that it’s gonna be a big fight," Krejcikova, who’s won Wimbledon twice in the women’s doubles category said.
"I was able to turn around the match": Barbora Krejcikova on previous meetings with Elena Rybakina ahead of Wimbledon 2024 clash
It is worth noting that Barbora Krejcikova has earned comeback wins against Elena Rybakina in both of their meetings so far.
The Czech won with a 4-6, 6-2, (10-6) scoreline in the first-to-ten tiebreak at the 2021 Melbourne 500 Grampians Trophy. Meanwhile, at the 2022 Ostrava Open, the eventual champion beat Rybakina in the semifinals 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, before upsetting Iga Swiatek in the final.
About her matches with the World No. 4, Barbora Krejcikova hilariously said:
"I don’t remember those matches. I don’t know, I will have to look at them,” she said in the aforementioned press conference.
She, however, recalled that she tilted the scales in her favor in the final moments of their meeting in Ostrava, adding that she hopes for a similar outcome this time.
"I know the last time I played (against her) was in Ostrava. It was a very tight match; it was very up and down. From what I remember, I was down most of the time. Then somehow, I was able to turn around the match. It was definitely a huge match for me and I’m expecting another huge match in the semifinals," she said.
Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova are chasing their second Grand Slam titles at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. The winner faces either Donna Vekic or Jasmine Paolini in Saturday’s title clash.
