WIMBLEDON, England — After winning her second major singles title after a roller-coaster match Saturday, Barbora Krejcikova threw her hands up in celebration and pointed to the sky.
Needing three match points and nearly two hours, she had just defeated No. 7 seed and crowd favorite Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to win her first Wimbledon title, with former champions Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Maria Sharapova looking on from the royal box.
Krejcikova became the eighth woman to win the prestigious title in eight years.
“I have no words right now,” Krejcikova told the Centre Court crowd moments later during the trophy presentation. “This is without a doubt the best day of my tennis career and also the best day of my life.”
The 28-year-old Czech had already won the 2021 French Open title, as well as 11 major doubles and mixed doubles titles, but she had not advanced beyond the quarterfinals in singles at a Grand Slam tournament since her triumph in Paris more than three years ago. After a difficult season marred by a back injury, illness and a 0-4 record on clay, Krejcikova was hardly considered a favorite to win the All England Club. She had never advanced beyond the fourth round before, and her ranking — once as high as No. 2 — had fallen to No. 32. ESPN BET had given her 100-1 odds to win the tournament before play began.
But Krejcikova seemed to improve in every match she played throughout the tournament. She beat No. 11 seed Danielle Collins and No. 13 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively, in straight sets. In the semifinals, she fought back from losing the first set to defeat 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
On Saturday, she faced Paolini, the surprise runner-up at Roland Garros 2024, who had also staged a comeback in the semifinals against Donna Vekic to prevail in a thrilling tiebreaker 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) and looked set to do the same in the final for much of the final two sets. Krejcikova had controlled the first set, winning 10 of the first 11 points and taking a 5-1 lead by a double break. But Paolini showed exactly what has carried her through her breakout season so far, and after a bathroom break between sets, she stormed back to win the first three games.
In the deciding game, the two players traded games until Paolini was broken at 3-3 after her only double fault of the match. From there, Krejcikova took over, winning all four points in the next game, but then struggled to close out the match. Finally, on her third match point, she did so. Paolini then congratulated her opponent.
“You played amazing,” Paolini told Krejcikova on court. “You play beautiful tennis.”
In an interview with ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez, Krejcikova called the match “an incredible battle” and said she knew Paolini would raise her game in the second set. In the deciding set, she tried to find her opportunities and stay as calm as possible while serving for the match. She said she repeated two words in her head in the final moments.
“Be brave,” Krejcikova said. “I tried because I knew I had to go all out and I had to be brave. And yeah, I’m so glad I did.”
With the win, Krejcikova became the first player in the Open era to win her first two Grand Slam finals in straight sets. Her 175 singles matches over the fortnight were the most singles wins by a champion in the Open era.
In her post-match interview, Krejcikova was emotional, as she had been after her semi-final victory, as she spoke of her late mentor Jana Novotna, who won the 1998 Wimbledon title. Novotna, also from the Czech Republic, died of ovarian cancer in 2017 at the age of 49.
“When I finished my juniors, I didn’t know whether to continue playing professionally or whether to follow the path of higher education. It was Jana who told me that I had the potential and that I should become a professional and try to succeed,” Krejcikova said. “And before she died, she told me to win a Grand Slam. I did that in Paris. It was an incredible moment for me, and I never imagined that I would win the same trophy as Jana in 1998.”
Krejcikova pointed to the sky after her Roland Garros victory in tribute to Novotna and later explained: “I know all this happened because she is watching over me from up there.”
After Wimbledon, Krejcikova will return to the top 10 of the rankings. The reigning doubles gold medallist with Katerina Siniakova, the pair will be looking to climb back to the top step of the podium when the Olympic Games begin at Roland Garros later this month. Krejcikova will also play singles and will look to continue her momentum before the season turns to hard court ahead of the US Open.
Paolini moved up to a career-high 5th place in the world after the tournament.
