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Barbora Krejcikova beats Jasmine Paolini to win Wimbledon

Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic defeated Italy’s Jasmine Paolini to win the Wimbledon women’s title on Saturday for her second Grand Slam singles triumph.

Krejcikova, the 31st seed, won 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to add the 2024 All England Club crown to her 2021 French Open victory.

Her win comes 26 years after her mentor Jana Novotna, who died iof cancer in 2017, claimed the Wimbledon title.

“Before she passed away, she told me to go and win a Slam. I did that in Paris in 2021 but I never dreamed of winning the same trophy that Jana did,” said the 28-year-old Krejcikova, who secured the title in a nervy final service game on a third championship point.

“It’s unreal what just happened. The best day of my tennis career and the best day of my life.

“I was just telling myself to be brave. It was such a difficult match, a great final, a great competition and I’m super happy to be standing here enjoying this moment.”

Barbora Krejcikova, who will return to the top 10 following her victory, came into Wimbledon after a testing season.

A back injury and illness meant she went winless on the tour from February until June.

“I was injured and ill and didn’t have a good start to the season and now I’m Wimbledon winner. How did that happen?”

“I think nobody’s going to believe I won Wimbledon. I still can’t believe it. Two weeks ago (first round) I had a very tough match, 7-5 in the third set and I wasn’t in good shape.”

The result means seventh-seeded Paolini has lost two Grand Slam finals back-to-back after coming off second best to Iga Swiatek at the French Open last month.

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“I’m a little bit sad but I try to keep smiling. I have to remember today is still a good day,” said Paolini, who had never won a grass-court match in her career until last month.

“I remember watching Wimbledon as a kid cheering for Roger Federer, so to be here now is crazy. It’s been a beautiful two weeks.”

She added: “Barbora, you played unbelievable. You play such beautiful tennis. Congrats to you and your team.”

Barbora Krejcikova set the tone at the start of the match by breaking the Italian in the opening game and backing up the advantage with a hold to love.

Paolini, the first Italian woman to reach a Wimbledon singles final, had to save two break points in the third game but she cracked under the strain again as the composed Czech stormed into a double-break ahead for 4-1.

Krejcikova moved to three set points in the eighth game and only needed one as Paolini dumped a backhand return into the net.

The nerve-wracked Italian managed to claim just four points on the Czech’s serve in the 35-minute opener. Krejcikova hit 10 winners to the Italian’s five.

Paolini dashed off Centre Court for a bathroom break and returned re-energised.

She had also dropped the first set in her marathon semi-final triumph over Donna Vekic and on Saturday she launched another second set fightback.

Breaks in the second and eighth games levelled the final after a set in which Krejcikova made 14 unforced errors to seven for her opponent, taking her double-fault count to a tournament-high of 33.

The Czech managed just four winners in the set as she went spectacularly off the boil.

However, momentum shifted dramatically back in her favour in the decider when Paolini double-faulted to surrender a break and fall 3-4 behind.

Barbora Krejcikova held to love for 5-3 but endured a nervy conclusion, requiring three championship points and saving two break points in the 10th game to seal the title.

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Barbora Krejcikova stuns Elena Rybakina to reach Wimbledon final

Czech 31st seed Barbora Krejcikova will face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the Wimbledon final after battling back for a shock 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over former champion Elena Rybakina on Thursday.

Just hours after Paolini beat tearful Croatian Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10/8) in the longest women’s semi-final at the All England Club, it was Barbora Krejcikova’s turn to dig deep for victory against fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina in two hours and seven minutes on Centre Court.

Barbora Krejcikova faces seventh seed Jasmine Paolini on Saturday in what will be the second Grand Slam final of the 28-year-old’s career after her French Open triumph in 2021.

“I’m so proud about my game and my fighting spirit today,” said Krejcikova.

The Czech started 2024 with a run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, but a first round exit at the French Open was a major setback.

She struggled with a back injury and illness, winning just three singles matches in the five months before finally finding her form in remarkable style at Wimbledon.

Krejcikova shocked 11th seed Danielle Collins in the fourth round and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals, before turning her sights on Rybakina.

The two-time Wimbledon doubles champion is now one win away from an unexpected triumph in the singles.

“Unbelievable. It is very tough to explain, but a lot of joy and a lot of emotions,” Krejcikova said.

“When I broke her in the second set, I started to be in the zone and I didn’t want to leave the zone.”

Rybakina had been in formidable form, dropping just one set as she extended her impressive All England Club record to 19 wins from 21 matches.

The 25-year-old, who won Wimbledon in 2022, made a fast start with two quick breaks for an early 4-0 lead in a one-sided first set against Krejcikova.

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In her first Wimbledon semi-final, Krejcikova turned the tide in the second set, landing a priceless break in the sixth game.

She levelled the match on her sixth set point, making it the first time in 20 years that both Wimbledon women’s semi-finals had gone to the final set.

The Czech held all the momentum and she eventually wore down Rybakina, who had committed over 35 unforced errors by the time she surrendered her serve in the decisive, seventh game of the final set.

Paolini had never won a main draw match at Wimbledon before this year, but the world number seven tenaciously saw off Vekic in two hours and 51 minutes to secure a second successive Grand Slam final appearance.

The 28-year-old, who lost the French Open final to Iga Swiatek last month, is the first Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon final.

Paolini, who also made the Australia Open last 16 in January, had not gone past the second round in any Slam before this year.

Without a win at the All England Club heading into the tournament, Paolini now has six victories under her belt and has dropped just two sets in the process.

“The last months have been crazy for me. It is a dream. I was watching finals when I was a kid on this Wimbledon,” she said.

“You know there is no place better than here to fight for every ball and every point. I will remember this forever.”

Vekic paid the price for 57 unforced errors, with the semi-final fittingly ending on another wild forehand from the unseeded Croatian.

Unable to contain her frustration at letting 3-1 and 4-3 leads slip in the last set, Vekic broke down in tears in the closing stages of a rollercoaster clash.

“I was crying because I had so much pain. I didn’t know how I could keep playing,” Vekic said.

“I thought I was going to die in the third set. I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg.”

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Iga Swiatek crushes Jasmine Paolini to win third French Open title in row

Poland’s Iga Swiatek extended her French Open reign on Saturday as she thrashed Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 in the final to win a third successive Roland Garros title.

World number one Swiatek dominated Italian 12th seed Paolini, a first-time Grand Slam finalist, needing just 68 minutes to capture a fourth crown in five years in Paris.

Swiatek has now won all five Grand Slam finals she has contested. Her other victory came at the 2022 US Open.

She is the fourth woman in the Open era to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen four times — after Justine Henin, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf.

“It’s amazing to be here. I love this place. I wait every year to come back,” said Swiatek, who clicked into gear after saving a match point against Naomi Osaka in the second round.

“I was almost out of the tournament,” she said. “I also needed to believe this one is going to be possible, it’s been a really emotional tournament.”

Iga Swiatek becomes only the third woman to win the tournament three years running. Henin, in 2005-07, was the last to do so. Monica Seles also achieved the feat as a teenager at the start of the 1990s.

At 23, her four French Open titles is the same number Rafael Nadal, the record 14-time men’s champion, had at the same age.

For the 28-year-old Paolini it was a sorry conclusion, at least in singles, to an otherwise brilliant fortnight in the French capital.

The world number 15 had won a total of four matches in 16 Grand Slam appearances before advancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.

While she fell short of emulating compatriot Francesca Schiavone, who won the 2010 French Open, Paolini could yet finish on a winning note with her and doubles partner Sara Errani through to Sunday’s final.

“I have to say congratulations to you, Iga,” said Paolini. “I think to play you here is the toughest challenge in this sport.”

“It was tough, but it was lots of fun,” she added.

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Paolini’s transformation this season into a player capable of challenging for the biggest prizes stemmed in part from quashing the mindset she needed “a miracle” to beat the best in the sport.

Yet the odds were heavily stacked against her going into the final, with Iga Swiatek unbeaten at French Open since a 2021 quarter-final loss to Maria Sakkari.

Riding a 20-match winning streak in Paris, and a winner of 18 straight matches this year after titles in Madrid and Rome, Swiatek quickly set about her business.

She powered an ace to hold in the opening game and had Paolini backpedalling down break point, but the Italian ground out a gutsy hold and then broke Swiatek when the Pole flayed a forehand long.

That triggered a searing riposte from Iga Swiatek, who broke to love to get back on serve and then surged 4-2 in front after Jasmine Paolini coughed up a costly double-fault.

“I got broken at the beginning, so it wasn’t maybe perfect, but I think the level was pretty high,” said Swiatek.

She had her opponent constantly scurrying around the court and the errors began to stack up for Paolini, who conceded the first set with a weak groundstroke into the net.

With Swiatek firmly in the ascendancy, Paolini looked lost for answers as the top seed oozed confidence and repeatedly took control of the rallies.

Had it not been for an astonishing recovery against Osaka in the second round, Iga Swiatek would have suffered her earliest exit at the French Open.

Instead, that fright served to ignite her title aspirations, reigning Wimbledon and US Open champions — Marketa Vondrousova and Coco Gauff — in particular powerless to stop the Swiatek offensive.

Iga Swiatek had difficulty putting away Karolina Muchova last year when heavily fancied, but there was no such trouble 12 months on as the Pole dismantled Jasmine Paolini to underline her burgeoning status as the ‘Queen of Clay’.

The three games won by Paolini were the fewest in the final here since Henin obliterated Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2 in 2007, which also coincided with the Belgian’s fourth Roland Garros title in five years.

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