By Janina Nuno Rios
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Barbora Krejcikova saved eight match points in a gladiatorial duel with unseeded American Taylor Townsend, clawing her way to a dramatic 1-6 7-6(13) 6-3 victory on Sunday to secure a place in the U.S. Open quarter-finals.
The two-time Grand Slam champion mounted a thrilling showcase of resilience in New York, clinching the win in a three-hour battle to extend her U.S. Open campaign. She will now face another American and last year’s runner-up Jessica Pegula.
“I still cannot believe I’m standing here and having an interview with you,” Krejcikova said.
“To be honest I’m totally enjoying this crowd, even though it’s not for me, it’s for the Americans, it’s fine… I know it’s not for me, I wish we had such a tournament in the Czech Republic.”
Townsend came out firing, breaking Krejcikova twice early with sharp returning and clean ball-striking, while the Czech’s errors only eased her path. The American never wavered on serve and broke again to close out the set in under half an hour.
The second set turned into a rollercoaster as Townsend broke early and looked ready to pull away, but a double fault helped Krejcikova break back.
From there they traded holds and tense moments, Townsend squandering the first of her match points on return before Krejcikova failed to serve out the set to force a nail-biting tiebreak.
The match reached peak drama as Townsend piled up match points only to watch them go begging through errors or see Krejcikova fend them off with gutsy winners.
The tiebreak turned into pure chaos. Townsend earned a triple match point at 6-3, but Krejcikova clawed back. Townsend then thought she had it won on her fifth chance, only to see the Czech’s forehand clip the line.
Krejcikova squandered three set points of her own before she finally converted on her fourth opportunity with an overhead smash to take it 15-13.
The 25-minute duel, the longest tiebreak of the tournament so far, had the crowd buzzing, with other players pausing practice to watch the drama unfold on the screens.
Visibly fatigued in the third set, the pair traded breaks until the Czech seized the upper hand to serve for the match.
After missing her first match point, Krejcikova converted the second, leaving Townsend in tears as the Czech celebrated her hard-fought victory.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis)
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