Barbora Krejčíková becomes Wimbledon champion; wins second Grand Slam trophy
Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejčíková defeated Jasmine Paolini in the women’s singles final on Saturday to win the Wimbledon 2024 title and win her second Grand Slam trophy. 28-year-old Krejčíková won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open in 2021. She was not seeded at the French Open then. She was also ranked 31st among 32 seeded players at the All England Club this season due to a back injury.
Krejčíková registered an unexpected victory with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win over Paolini in the final at the All England Club. She thanked her mentor (late) 1998 Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna who inspired her to come into professional tennis.
Match summary
Paolini is the first female player to reach the finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season after Serena Williams in 2016. Playing with a composed mind, Krejčíková won 10 of the first 11 points and soon took a 5-1 lead. The spectators were cheering Paolini. But Barbora did not waver. The crowd on the Center Court included actors Tom Cruise, Kate Beckinsale and Hugh Jackman. Paolini tried to make a comeback but she could not trouble Krejcikova.
After losing the first set, Paolini went to the locker room and when she came back she looked a different player. The seventh seed upped her game and took the second set 2-6. When the match was tied at 1 game apiece, Krejčíková motivated herself. In the second set, she hit only four winners. But in the third set, she managed to hit 14 winners. Krejčíková said, ‘I was just telling myself to be bold.’ In the deciding set, when the score was 3-3, Paolini made only a double fault. After this, Barbora kept the pressure on with a score of 5-3. In the end, she needed to save two break points and needed three match points to win the title. Paolini missed a backhand and Krejčíková won the title.
New women’s champions have emerged from the last 8 editions of the tournament and since then Krejčíková is the eighth woman to become Wimbledon champion. Last year’s title also went to a player from the Czech Republic, who was unseeded Markéta Vondroušová, who lost in the first round here last week. Seventh seed Paolini was the runner-up at the French Open last month and she is the first woman player to reach the finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season after Serena Williams in 2016.
