Krejicikova’s great comeback from eight points of no return

Czech star produces courageous tennis, staving off eight match points to beat Taylor Townsend

- Rutvick Mehta

MUMBAI: A part of the US Open locker room paused as the spectacle peaked at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

A group of players, including world No.4 Taylor Fritz, chose being glued to the TV screen over loosening up their bodies. Each of them knows what itis like to bein match point territory, where one point defines whether you can go on in the tournament or go out. That's when the play often gets tightand the mind freezes to safety-first approach. They've all been there. They've all done that.

Barbora Krejcikova was there, eight times over. What she did, though, was unshackle her day's most brave and audacious tennis on each of those eight points of no return.

The result: from being down 16, 4-5, 30-40 in the match and 3-6, 4-6, 5-6, 6-7, 10-Il, 11-12 and 12-13 in the second set tiebreaker, the Czech completed a remarkable and riveting turnaround to beat American Taylor Townsend 1-6, 7-6(15-13), 6-3 and enter the US Open quarterfinals.

‘As per OptaAce, the eight match points saved were the joint most in a women’s singles win in Slams over the last three seasons.