Barbora Krejcikova admitted she was "lucky" in certain match points against Taylor Townsend as the Czech revealed there were points when she would simply try to return the ball inside the court and hope for the best.
On Sunday, Krejcikova – a former world No. 2 who plummeted to No. 62 in the world – pulled off the most epic win of this year's US Open after saving a total of eight match points en route to beating 139th-ranked home player Townsend 1-6 7-6 (13) 6-3 and reaching the quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows.
After losing her serve three times in the first set, it soon went from bad to worse for Krejcikova after she also found herself trailing 1-3 in the second set. The former world No. 2 managed to get the break and then even save a match point on her serve in the 10th game before the set went into a tie-break. There, a real drama started – Townsend had seven match points but Krejcikova saved them all before realizing her fourth set point to send the match into a decider.
Blowing eight match points was too much to mentally overcome for Townsend, who dropped her serve in the critical moments of the third set and Krejcikova closed out the match on her serve in the ninth game.
Krejcikova: I was very brave but also lucky at certain match points
“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Definitely at all those match points, I was very brave, but also lucky at certain points. Taylor is a great player—she can do any magic she wants. I was just trying to put the ball on her side and hoping it would save me… It was very tough, very intense, very up-and-down. At the end, I’m very happy it went my way," the 2004 Wimbledon champion said.
In the US Open quarterfinal, Krejcikova plays another American since No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula is her next rival.
