Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic defeated Italy’s Jasmine Paolini to win the Wimbledon women’s title on Saturday for her second Grand Slam singles triumph.
Krejcikova, the 31st seed, won 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to add the 2024 All England Club crown to her 2021 French Open victory.
Her win comes 26 years after her mentor Jana Novotna, who died of cancer in 2017, claimed the Wimbledon title.
“Before she passed away, she told me to go and win a Slam. I did that in Paris in 2021 but I never dreamed of winning the same trophy that Jana did,” said the 28-year-old Krejcikova, who secured the title in a nervy final service game on a third championship point.
“It’s unreal what just happened. The best day of my tennis career and the best day of my life.
“I was just telling myself to be brave. It was such a difficult match, a great final, a great competition and I’m super happy to be standing here enjoying this moment.”
Krejcikova, who will return to the top 10 following her victory, came into Wimbledon after a testing season.
A back injury and illness meant she went winless on the tour from February until June.
“I was injured and ill and didn’t have a good start to the season and now I’m Wimbledon winner. How did that happen?”
“I think nobody’s going to believe I won Wimbledon. I still can’t believe it. Two weeks ago (first round) I had a very tough match, 7-5 in the third set and I wasn’t in good shape.”
The result means seventh-seeded Paolini has lost two Grand Slam finals back-to-back after coming off second best to Iga Swiatek at the French Open last month.
“I’m a little bit sad but I try to keep smiling. I have to remember today is still a good day,” said Paolini, who had never won a grass-court match in her career until last month.
“I remember watching Wimbledon as a kid cheering for Roger Federer, so to be here now is crazy. It’s been a beautiful two weeks.”
She added: “Barbora, you played unbelievable. You play such beautiful tennis. Congrats to you and your team.”
Krejcikova set the tone at the start of the match by breaking the Italian in the opening game and backing up the advantage with a hold to love.
Nervy conclusion
Paolini, the first Italian woman to reach a Wimbledon singles final, had to save two break points in the third game but she cracked under the strain again as the composed Czech stormed into a double-break ahead for 4-1.
Krejcikova moved to three set points in the eighth game and only needed one as Paolini dumped a backhand return into the net.
The nerve-wracked Italian managed to claim just four points on the Czech’s serve in the 35-minute opener. Krejcikova hit 10 winners to the Italian’s five.
Paolini dashed off Centre Court for a bathroom break and returned re-energised.
She had also dropped the first set in her marathon semi-final triumph over Donna Vekic and on Saturday she launched another second set fightback.
Breaks in the second and eighth games levelled the final after a set in which Krejcikova made 14 unforced errors to seven for her opponent, taking her double-fault count to a tournament-high of 33.
The Czech managed just four winners in the set as she went spectacularly off the boil.
However, momentum shifted dramatically back in her favour in the decider when Paolini double-faulted to surrender a break and fall 3-4 behind.
Krejcikova held to love for 5-3 but endured a nervy conclusion, requiring three championship points and saving two break points in the 10th game to seal the title.
Barbora Krejcikova Factbox
Age: 28
Country: Czech Republic
WTA ranking: 32
Seeding: 31
Grand Slam titles: 2 (2021 French Open, 2024 Wimbledon)
ROAD TO FINAL
First round: Veronika Kudermetova (Russia) 7-6(4) 6-7(1) 7-5
Second round: Katie Volynets (US) 7-6(6) 7-6(5)
Third round: Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (Spain) 6-0 4-3 walkover
Round of 16: 11-Danielle Collins (US) 7-5 6-3
Quarter-finals: 13-Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) 6-4 7-6(4)
Semi-finals: 4-Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) 3-6 6-3 6-4
EARLY LIFE
Born in Brno, Krejcikova started playing tennis at the age of six.
CAREER TO DATE
* On the ITF Circuit, Krejcikova clinched 14 singles and 19 doubles titles.
* In 2013, she was ranked junior world number three while also winning the girls’ doubles titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open with compatriot Katerina Siniakova.
* She made her WTA Tour debut in doubles at the 2014 Gastein Ladies, and her singles debut came at the Tournoi de Quebec in the same year.
* She was coached by late 1998 Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna from 2014 to 2017, the year Novotna died of cancer.
* She won her maiden WTA doubles title at 2015 Tournoi de Quebec and secured her first major doubles win at the 2018 French Open title with Siniakova. It was followed by another doubles triumph with Siniakova at 2018 Wimbledon, which helped her rise to the world number one doubles ranking that year.
* The following year, she won her first mix-doubles Grand Slam crown with American Rajeev Ram at the Australian Open.
* Aside from winning the mixed doubles for the third straight year at the Australian Open, 2021 was a highly successful year in her singles career as she won her first WTA singles title at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, a day before the French Open started.
* That year, she also completed the first singles and doubles sweep at the French Open since Mary Pierce in 2000. Her win over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the 2021 Roland-Garros final saw her break into the top 15 WTA singles rankings for the first time.
* Having also won the 2021 WTA Finals and a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in women’s doubles, both partnering with Siniakova, she ended the 2021 season as world number five in singles and as number two in doubles.
* The next year, she and Siniakova completed a career Golden Slam in doubles after securing the US Open while also achieving a career-high ranking of world number two in singles.
* Doubles success followed in 2023 as she won the Australian Open doubles title with Siniakova.
* Despite a run of six defeats in eight singles matches before heading into Wimbledon, she won the grasscourt slam by beating French Open runner-up Paolini, also 28, in the final. That triumph will also return her to the top 10 in singles.
Recent Wimbledon women’s champions
2024: Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)
2023: Marketa Vondrousova (CZE)
2022: Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
2021: Ashleigh Barty (AUS)
2020: Tournament cancelled
2019: Simona Halep (ROM)
2018: Angelique Kerber (GER)
2017: Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
2016: Serena Williams (USA)
2015: Serena Williams (USA)
2014: Petra Kvitova (CZE)
