There is one player in the 2023 season who, although she did not win a Grand Slam title, set a record of beating the world's top three in three consecutive days in the same event. She is the protagonist of today's article, Czech player Krejcikova.
Born on December 18, 1995, Krejcikova may be both unfamiliar and familiar to everyone, as she first rose to fame in doubles. In 2014, at the age of 19, Krejcikova officially turned professional. In 2018, she won the French Open and Wimbledon women's doubles titles, making her debut in doubles.
From 2019 to 2021, Krejcikova won the Australian Open mixed doubles title for three consecutive years. Her outstanding performance in the doubles competition also led to her performance in the singles, and Krejcikova began to make a name for herself in the singles competition in 2021. She won her first WTA Women's Singles title at the WTA Strasbourg International Championship, and then won back-to-back Women's Singles and Women's Doubles titles at the French Open, becoming the first woman to win a double title at the French Open since Pierce in 2000.
After the 2021 season, Krejcikova's form in singles, especially in Grand Slam tournaments, gradually declined. Until the 2023 season, she began to find her old form again after a long silence. At this year's WTA1000 Dubai, for example, Krejcikova defeated the world's top three players in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals to win the biggest singles title of the season. With 1,000 points from his victory in Dubai, the Czechs moved up from 30th to 16th in the singles rankings.
It is reported that Krejcikova is the first person in WTA history to beat the top three players in the world rankings in the same event for three consecutive days. Although four players have beaten the top three players in the world in the same tournament before, there has been a gap in between.
Here are the top three women who beat the world's top three in the same event:
Players, tournament names and rounds
Graf, 1999 French Open (defeated second seed Davenport in the quarter-finals, third seed Seles in the semi-finals, and top seed Hingis in the final)
Serena Williams, Miami 2002 (defeated third seed Hingis in the quarterfinals, second seed Serena Williams in the semifinals, and top seed Capriati in the final)
Serena Williams, 2008 WTA Finals (defeated second seed Safina in the first game of the group stage, third seed Serena Williams in the second game of the group stage, and defeated top seed Jankovic in the semifinals)
Sabalenka, WTA Finals 2022 (defeated second seed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the second game of the group stage, Pegula the third game of the group stage, and defeated top seed Swiatek in the semifinals)
Krejcikova, Dubai 2023 (defeated second seed Sabalenka in the quarter-finals, third seed Pegula in the semi-finals, and top seed Swiatek in the final)
It is worth mentioning that Graf had a day off between matches against Davenport and Celes, and then another day between matches between matches between Sellers and Hingis, while Serena Williams had a day off between matches between matches between Williams and Capriati, while Serena Williams and Sabalenka beat the world's top three players in the WTA Finals, but there was still a gap between matches against other players. (Source: Tennis Home Author: Wu Li Quhao)