Barbora Krejcikova has repeatedly insisted that no one – not her friends, not her family, not even herself – would believe she won Wimbledon to secure her second Grand Slam title.
Her first French Open title three years ago was certainly a surprise. This one, won 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini on Saturday, was equally unpredictable.
But perhaps it is time to acknowledge that these kinds of results make perfect sense for Krejcikova.
“What just happened is just unreal. Definitely the best day of my career – and also the happiest day of my life,” said Krejcikova, who credited her late mentor, 1998 Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, for pushing her to become a professional player.
Even with the trophy in her hands, Krejcikova described herself as “the lucky one” after beating Paolini, the seventh seed and finalist at the French Open last month.
Krejcikova was only 31e seed at the All England Club after illness and a back injury limited her to a 7-9 record this season heading into this tournament. A three-set first-round victory last week added to the doubts.
But at the end of the fortnight, Paolini was there at the trophy ceremony, telling Krejcikova: “You play such beautiful tennis.”
Krejcikova is the eighth different woman to be crowned champion in the last eight editions of the tournament. Last year’s winner, Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, was eliminated in the first round last week.
In defeat, Paolini, who also lost to Poland’s Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros last month, became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to contest the final match of both Grand Slams in the same season.
On Saturday, the two finalists took turns to direct the course of the match.
Playing coolly and efficiently – seemingly effortlessly – Krejcikova won 10 of the first 11 points and quickly took a two-break lead at 5-1.
Despite the crowd’s encouragement, which regularly shouted “Forza!” (Go!) at Paolini, Krejcikova easily won the first round.
Krejcikova can get to the net, sure — she has won seven Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, including two at Wimbledon — but she was mostly content to hang back at the baseline, hitting shot after shot to gain the upper hand in longer rallies.
Plan A seemed sufficient early in the match in front of a Centre Court crowd that included actors Tom Cruise, Kate Beckinsale and Hugh Jackman.
After a tough first set, Paolini retreated to the locker room. She was a different player, no longer looking like someone weighed down by the residual fatigue of the longest women’s semifinal in Wimbledon history. She had beaten Donna Vekic in 2 hours 51 minutes on Thursday.
She quickly took a 3-0 lead in the second set, forcing a deciding set.
After the second, it was this time Krejcikova who went to the locker room. Result: after committing 14 double faults in the middle set, she found her precision again at the end of the match.
“I just told myself to be brave,” Krejcikova said.
At 3-3, Paolini gave in with a double fault – her only one of the match – which allowed Krejcikova to record the break.
At 5-3, Krejci saved two break points, taking advantage of his third championship point to end the match.
“Nobody believes I made it to the final. And I don’t think anybody will believe I won Wimbledon,” Krejcikova said a few minutes later. “I still can’t believe it. It’s unbelievable.”