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Across two months in four tournaments leading up to the French Open, Barbara Krejcikova lost four singles matches in a row. Over the last week at Wimbledon, she has won five. Things can change quickie in tennis; even though this season tested every ounce of the Czech’s patience.

Krejcikova, seeded 31st, entered her first Wimbledon singles semi-final defeating 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6(4) in the quarter-final on Wednesday in a clinical show of craft and experience. She will need to summon all of that again on Thursday when she takes on the big-serving Elena Rybakina for a spot in the final.

A two-time Wimbledon doubles champion, this is the first time Krejcikova has gone this far in singles at the All England Club. And the first time the 28-year-old has made the singles last four of a Slam since becoming the French Open champion in 2021. She’s been stopped thrice in the quarters since, most recently at this year’s Australian Open that put the former world No. 2 on the brink of a re-entry into the top 10.

Post that, however, she endured a troubled few months on and off the court that dragged her out of the top 30.

After backing up the run in Australia — she lost to eventual champion Aryne Sabalenka — with another quarter-final in Abu Dhabi, Krejcikova was side lined with a back injury. Just being able to get out of her bed and go for walks took days, and some more to gently start training. Just as she started to gradually hit her strides again, she was struck down by a severe bout of flu.

For a player who doubles up her volume of tennis competing in both singles and doubles on the WTA tour and in Slams, not being able to get on court for more than two months was unusual. The bright side of that dull phase was getting the rare chance to chase her hobbies, like gardening and cooking. Her comeback dish, though, took some time to put together. She lost four matches on the trot across clay-court events in Stuttgart, Madrid, Strasbourg and Paris. From early February to late May when she exited the French Open, Krejcikova hadn’t experienced the feeling of winning a match.