Czech player Sara Bejlek maintained her incredible momentum at the Cincinnati Open, defeating the American Madison Keys to secure a spot in her maiden WTA 1000 semifinal, where she is set to play against fourth seed Coco Gauff.
The 20-year-old unseeded Bejlek has defeated three Grand Slam titleholders on her journey to the semifinals, having previously practice-beaten world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the round of 16 and Barbora Krejcikova in the earlier stages of the tournament.
Her quarter-final victory over Keys ended 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) as she chases her second career WTA trophy, following her triumph at the Abu Dhabi Open earlier this year in February.
After dropping the opening set and falling behind 3-1 in the second, Bejlek claimed five of the subsequent six games to push the match to a decider, where she rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the tie-break to seal the victory in two hours and 37 minutes.
Reflecting on her progress, the 35th-ranked player in the world noted: “My team and I had an important conversation a few weeks back, and from that point on, things have been progressing wonderfully. I am growing more confident in my abilities and feeling much stronger physically during matches.”
