For the second time in her career, Barbora Krejickova will play for the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

After a thrilling comeback against Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals, the Czech knocked off a Top 10 player for the second round running with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 win over No.2 seed Jessica Pegula in Friday's semifinals. 

A runner-up in Dubai two years ago when she was ranked World No.63, Krejcikova will play for her sixth career singles title in a final for the first time since October, when she won consecutive trophies in Tallinn and Ostrava.

To win on home soil in Ostrava, she overcame world No.1 Iga Swiatek in one of the best matches of 2022 -- and she'll face Swiatek again in Saturday's final.

Revenge served: Krejcikova and Pegula met just last month in the fourth round of the Australian Open, where the American was a 7-5, 6-3 winner. 

But bidding to reach a final for the second week running after finishing runner-up to Swiatek in Doha, she had no such lead in a match that lasted a tick under 2 hours. Krejcikova won five straight games from 1-1 in the first set, and later, lost just seven points in the six games of the third set.

Pegula extended the match by winning a second set that lasted more than an hour. After failing to break Krejcikova on chances she had in the second and fourth games, Pegula 

"I felt good, even though the second set didn't go my way," Krejcikova said after the match. "I was still thinking that I had a big chance, and was going for my shots and just try to play my best tennis.

"I had to against Jessica, she's a great player, and I'm really happy that I was able to do that."

Krejcikova hit 31 winners to Pegula's 11 in victory, including six aces. She also broke the American's serve six times to score her 10th career win against a Top 10 player. She also improved to 9-1 in her career in semifinal matches. 

Scouting Swiatek vs. Krejcikova: Prior to losing out in a 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 final in Ostrava, Swiatek had won the other two meetings against Krejcikova -- both played in 2021.

Saturday's final will be just their second match played on outdoor hard courts; the Pole was a 6-4, 6-2 winner in Miami two years ago in their first meeting. 

"It's always very nice to play the best one in the world, and she's the best one right now," Krejcikova said. "She was the best one last year. She's playing some great tennis so I'm really looking forward to play against her and see where my level is. I think it's going to be a great final."