PA Media/DPA
London
Former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova will return to the top 10 after reaching her first grass-court final at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.
The Czech claimed her maiden singles grand slam title in 2021 but missed a chunk of last season with an elbow injury and dropped down the rankings.
Now the 27-year-old is back on the up and she is yet to drop a set so far at Edgbaston Priory, easing to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over China’s Zhu Lin in the semi.
Krejcikova said: “I’m really happy. Today was another difficult match, I felt it was really tough to play against my opponent today, so I’m really happy how I went through and I was really focused all the games.
“I played well. It’s really nice that I’m back (in the top 10) but it’s just a number, I want to keep going.” It will be a battle of the top two seeds in the final, but second seed Jelena Ostapenko has had a contrasting path.
Bublik defeats Zverev
to reach Halle final
Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik defeated home hope Alexander Zverev in Halle, Germany, on Saturday and will now have the chance to claim his first grass-court tour-level title.
In the semi-final match, Bublik prevailed 6-3, 7-5 against the Olympic champion to reach his first ATP 500 final.
“The job is not finished, there is one last match,” Bublik said. “I am happy but I try to stay focused. I tried to play my game and I am really happy with the win today.”
The German had problems finding his rhythm from the start, while Bublik served impressively well, firing 14 aces.
“He played incredibly well,” Zverev said, but stressed: “I’m very happy with the level I’m playing at the moment.”
