Former French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova is flying under the radar at Wimbledon, just like her opponent in the final. And in the end she can’t believe her own triumph.
Barbora Krejcikova tenderly kisses the prestigious Wimbledon trophy. In an underdog final, the Czech tennis player was crowned winner of the popular grass tournament in London for the first time and celebrated her second Grand Slam singles title after the French Open coup in 2021. She won the final against the Italian Jasmine Paolini 6:2, 2:6, 6:4, which turned into a nail-biter after surprising twists and turns.
“I have no words. It’s just unreal. It’s definitely the best day of my tennis career and also the best day of my life,” said the 28-year-old. “We fought for every point. In the end, I was the lucky one.”
With the first break in the third set at 4:3, also with the help of a double fault from the Italian, Krejcikova secured the advantage in the decisive set. But the decision was only made when she held her serve at 5:4, although she showed nerves in the face of approaching triumph. “I just tried to stay brave,” said Krejcikova, who will return to the top ten on Monday as the new number ten in the world.
Krejcikova can’t believe it herself
When Paolini’s return on the third match point flew clearly out of bounds, she raised her arms in the air. She blew a kiss into the sky and a little later received congratulations from her team in the stands. She crowned herself the next Czech winner, succeeding fellow countrywoman Marketa Vondrousova.
Nobody in her home country will believe that she actually triumphed here on this famous venue: “Nobody will believe that I made it to the final and nobody will believe that I won Wimbledon. I can’t believe it,” said the Czech. She hadn’t been in particularly good form. “Now I’m standing here and I’m the Wimbledon winner.”
Thoughts on Novotna
When the award ceremony turned to her deceased former coach Jana Novotna, who won Wimbledon in 1998, Krejcikova had to swallow hard. Meeting her changed her tennis life. “Jana was the one who told me that I had the potential. I never thought that I would one day win the same trophy as Jana.”
The new Wimbledon winner can look forward to prize money equivalent to 3.2 million euros. Paolini, the first Italian to reach the Wimbledon final, will receive just under 1.7 million euros. A month ago she missed her Grand Slam title debut at the French Open, just as she did now at London’s Church Road.
Despite her disappointment, the 28-year-old Italian was able to smile again. “I have to remind myself that it’s still a good day. Being here now is crazy. I’ve enjoyed every day. It’s been a wonderful two weeks.”
Krejcikova with better start in surprise final
This final act of the women’s table was actually impossible to predict. The number 31 seed (Krejcikova) faced the number seven (Paolini). Krejcikova brought experience of finals on the Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club from her doubles successes. In 2022 and 2018 she had won the doubles competition at London’s Church Road. A total of seven Grand Slam titles in doubles and three more in mixed doubles are in her success statistics.
In front of 15,000 spectators on Centre Court, Krejcikova started much better two days after her hard-fought semi-final victory against the clear favorite former Wimbledon champion Jelena Rybakina from Kazakhstan.
Krejcikova initially played more consistently against the Italian, who is the same age, and chased her into the corners. Laura Siegemund’s current doubles partner was ahead by two breaks at 4:1. She served excellently and was halfway through the match after 35 minutes by winning the first set.
However, anyone who thought that the second set would continue like this was mistaken. Paolini left the court after losing the set and was suddenly the better player when the match resumed. The second set clearly went to the Italian. But the match tipped again.
Source: Stern
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