Barbora Krejcikova finally living up to her own billing after difficult year

By Andy Sims, PA

Barbora Krejcikova complained last year that she was never in the conversation surrounding the top of women’s tennis.

Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina were the reigning grand slam champions, yet Krejcikova had recent wins over all three.

“It’s about Iga, Aryna, and Elena, and I’m not really there,” the 2021 French Open winner moaned in Miami in March 2023.

Unfortunately, in the intervening 16 months that gripe has looked more and more risible.

Injury and illness have taken their toll as Krejcikova tumbled down the rankings and after a two-month lay-off earlier this year she lost all four of her matches, including a first-round exit at Roland Garros, before arriving on the grass.

But now, as world number 32, Krejcikova beat Rybakina in three tense sets to reach a first Wimbledon final.

“I felt I had to improve everything,” she said. “I think I definitely got better on faster surfaces. I felt like I had to develop my game because everybody else is developing their game, too.

“I mean, it’s great that it looks like I made some progress, that I’m in another final.”

Krejcikova has been inspired by the memory of her mentor Jana Novotna, the Czech who famously cried on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after losing the 1993 final against Steffi Graf before finally lifting the trophy five years later.

Novotna took a teenage Krejcikova under her wing but died of cancer in 2017 aged only 49.

“We talked about her matches here. Yeah, I hope she would be proud,” added the 28-year-old.

“We have a huge tennis history in the Czech Republic at Wimbledon, but also at other majors. I mean, when I was growing up, I had a lot of players that I could look up to.

“It’s great that right now I’m also a slam champion and I’m in a final of Wimbledon.”

Krejcikova will face another 28-year-old, Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, who is continuing to surprise herself and the tennis world following her run to the Roland Garros final six weeks ago.

Paolini came through a tense, emotional match against Donna Vekic after a third set tie-break in the longest women’s semi-final in Wimbledon history.

The woman from Tuscany whose infectious smile has lit up a gloomy Wimbledon fortnight said: “I’m trying to live the present and to enjoy what I’m doing and don’t forget where I am.

“I think it’s a really privileged position, and I have to keep that in focus, you know?

“Also, sometimes I’m trying to say to myself ‘OK, jokes apart, enjoy but stay focused and think about what you have to do to step on court and give the 100 per cent that you have.

“It’s a balance, I think, between enjoying and be focused.”