Wimbledon: Barbora Krejcikova’s surreal title triumph should catapult her into the league of modern superstars

Not merely is Barbora Krejcikova a former World No. 2 and Grand Slam singles champion, but with a total tally of 10 doubles Majors and an Olympic gold, she has already racked up a near-Hall of Fame career this decade.

Despite that, as a new crop of young, attacking champions – the likes of Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka – have risen to prominence, Krejcikova has remained one of the under-appreciated recent Major winners.

All that should now change.

Breathtaking. Brilliant. Barbora.

Barbora Krejcikova is the 2024 Ladies’ Singles Champion 🏆#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Xz0jjezO89

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 13, 2024

On a tense afternoon at Centre Court, Krejcikova defeated Jasmine Paolini, the spirited seventh seed from Italy, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in a final of sometimes top-tier tennis, and sometimes nerve-jangling, to win the Wimbledon title.

She became the fourth Czech woman, after Marketa Vondrousova (2023), Petra Kvitova (2011, 2014), and her inspiration and mentor, Jana Novotna (1998), to do so. “I think that nobody could have believed it… that I could get to the final and then win Wimbledon. I still cannot believe it,” Krejcikova said on court after the final.

As the 31st seed, few (including herself) would have given her a chance at the start of the tournament, and even less so after she just about edged Veronika Kudermetova in the first round in a three-hour long marathon. “It’s definitely the best day of my tennis career, what just happened. The best day of my life,” she added, holding the Venus Rosewater dish aloft. “It was a great final, and in the end, I was the lucky one.”

A moment @BKrejcikova will never forget 🏆#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/5pJicSISub

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 13, 2024

Paolini may have been swept aside by World No. 1 Swiatek in last month’s French Open final, but she found herself to be a resilient, threatening presence in a knife-edged final. It could have easily gone her way had it not been for two critical errors that came off the Italian’s racquet late in the third set.

After each splitting the first two sets, rallies were tightened and nerves caught up in the decider. Krejcikova mixed in variety and patience to fashion a break point opportunity in the seventh game which Paolini admirably defended. But the Italian gifted the initiative with a double fault.

Proceedings threatened to turn one last time with Krejcikova feeling the heat while serving for the Championships and Paolini sniffing blood. The Italian saved two match points and momentum was flowing her way. But she netted a simple putaway second serve return and Krejcikova found a big first serve to close out the match. Paolini had come ever so close, but Krejcikova had lifted her game on the bigger points, and escaped with the title.

A moment @BKrejcikova will never forget 🏆#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/5pJicSISub

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 13, 2024

Match of two halves

Krejcikova’s playing style is a departure from the hardline attacking baseliners that dominate the women’s game today. All timing and variation, she brings plenty of craftiness from her great doubles career. Her formidable backhand slice sucks the pace out of the baseline exchanges. Earlier this week, she expertly neutralised hard hitters like Elena Rybakina and Jelena Ostapenko.

The more defensive-minded Paolini was expected to be a different kind of challenge, but Krejcikova’s greatest strengths had her fully on top in the opening exchanges. The Czech could not have played a better first set – making 90% of her first serves, winning 84% of the points behind it, fashioning four break points, and converting two.

She used her variety and precise groundstrokes to disrupt her opponent’s rhythm and extract errors. The scoreline suggests a washout but many of the games were decided on points that went above 15 shots, Krejcikova giving Paolini no pace to redirect and spread her around the court before finding the right opportunity to strike. The Italian was found to be too tentative, her serve lacking bite.

Yet, the momentum ebbed in the second set, Paolini found another gear. Instead of waiting to redirect pace from the other side of the net, she injected more pace into her own groundstrokes and took the initiative. In the blink of an eye, the Italian found an early break and stayed on top to level the match.

Krejcikova looked rattled and panicked with Paolini’s newfound aggression. The Czech had hit 10 winners and eight unforced errors in the first set. Those numbers stood at four and 14 respectively in the second.

Paolini’s comeback was unquestionably in the ascendency at the start of the third set. The match had a different flow to it and the games were moving at a much quicker speed than Krejcikova would prefer.

Yet, the Czech was able to lock in on serve and stay focused on the important points. Even as she was gifted the crucial breakthrough, with Paolini’s ill-timed double fault giving her the break, she needed to find her very best serving form to stave away a late lapse and coast to the trophy.

She did it, Jana 💕

Barbora Krejcikova follows in the footsteps of her late coach and mentor, 1998 #Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna 🇨🇿 🫶 pic.twitter.com/auiZfVJT4v

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 13, 2024

It is worth remembering the summer belongs to Paolini. At 28, she is a late bloomer. But this year, with a WTA 1000 title in Dubai and back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon finals (the first to do so since Serena Williams in 2016), she has proven her all-surface pedigree that even the top-ranked players on the tour have not. Eyes will be firmly planted on whether she can reset from the two disappointments and keep her momentum going. But the day and glory belongs to Krejcikova, who emulated her idol’s dream with an emotional run.

STAT BOX:

2: Barbora Krejcikova becomes one of only two active players, the other being Simona Halep, to have won both Wimbledon and the French Open.

32: As World No. 32, Krejcikova is the second-lowest ranked Wimbledon champion. The lowest was last year’s winner and her compatriot Market Vondrousova, who was unseeded and World No. 42.

2: Beset by injury, Krejcikova had won only two singles matches in the five months between the end of the Australian Open and the start of Wimbledon.

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