LONDON — At age 18, a decade before Barbora Krejcikova won Wimbledon on Saturday, she was done with junior tennis and couldn’t decide whether to pursue a professional tennis career or move on, go to school and find a different path.
So Krejcikova wrote a letter to one of her idols, 1998 Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, and dropped it off at her home in their native Czech Republic. Not only did Novotna tell Krejcikova she had talent and should stick with the sport, but she also became a mentor until dying of cancer in 2017.
“Before she passed away,” Krejcikova said, “she told me to go and win a Slam.”
How about two? Krejcikova was an unseeded, surprising winner at the French Open three years ago and added to her trophy case with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Jasmine Paolini in the final at the All England Club. Shortly after Saturday’s match ended, Krejcikova went and looked at her just-printed name on the list of Wimbledon champions posted in a Centre Court hallway — and saw Novotna’s there, too.
“The only thing that was going through my head,” Krejcikova said of that moment, “was that I miss Jana a lot. It was just very, very emotional. … I think she would be proud.”
Even after holding on to win on her third match point, Krejcikova insisted that nobody — not her friends, not her family, not even herself — would believe what she’s accomplished. It was relatively unlikely, after all, given that she dealt with a back injury and illness this season and her record in 2024 was just 7-9 when she arrived at the grass-court major.
Krejcikova was the 31st of 32 seeded women at the All England Club. Then came a three-setter in the first round last week, adding to the doubts.
But by the end of the fortnight, there stood the seventh-seeded Paolini, telling Krejcikova: “You play such beautiful tennis.”
Krejcikova is the eighth woman to leave Wimbledon as the champion in the past eight editions of the event. Last year’s champion also is from the Czech Republic: unseeded Marketa Vondrousova, who lost in the first round last week.
Paolini, the runner-up to Iga Swiatek at the French Open last month, is the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to get to the finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season — and the first since Venus Williams in 2002 to lose both.
“If I keep this level,” said Paolini, a 28-year-old from Italy, “I think I can have the chance to do great things.”
This match was as back-and-forth as could be.
Fittingly, the last game took 14 points to decide, with Krejcikova needing to fend off a pair of break chances. She eventually converted her third match point when Paolini missed a backhand.
“I was just telling myself to be brave,” said Krejcikova, who also owns seven Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles, including two at Wimbledon, and three in mixed doubles.
She was great at the outset, taking 10 of the initial 11 points and five of the initial six games as the crowd, likely hoping to see a more competitive contest, pulled loudly for Paolini, yelling “Forza!” (“Let’s go!”), the way she often does, or “Calma!” (“Be calm!”).
“She was taking the ball earlier,” Paolini said, “and she was moving me.”
In the early going, Paolini looked very much like someone burdened by residual fatigue from the longest women’s semifinal in Wimbledon history, her 2-hour, 51-minute win over Donna Vekic on Thursday.
But after a trip to the locker room before the second set, Paolini took charge, controlling more of the longer baseline exchanges, while Krejcikova’s errors mounted.
From 3-all in the final set, Paolini faltered, double-faulting for the only time all afternoon to get broken. Krejcikova then held at love for 5-3 and soon was serving out the championship, no matter how tough things got down the stretch.
During the trophy ceremony, much as she did following her singles triumph in Paris in 2021, Krejcikova spoke about Novotna’s influence on her tennis life — and her life, in general.
Later Saturday, at Krejcikova’s news conference, she said Novotna frequently appears in her dreams. They’ll converse with each other, she explained.
A reporter asked Krejcikova what she’d like to say to Novotna now that they both are Wimbledon champions.
“Well, I think I would turn it around,” Krejcikova said with a smile. “I would like to hear what she would tell me.”
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis