Barbora Krejcikova wins Wimbledon, battling past Jasmine Paolini in three sets in final

Barbora Krejcikova has won her first Wimbledon title, battling past Jasmine Paolini in the final on Saturday, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

It’s the second Grand Slam title of her career, the Czech having previously conquered the clay of Roland Garros in 2021.

She continues a strong Czech tradition at Wimbledon—she’s the fourth woman representing the Czech Republic in the Open Era to win the world’s most historic tennis tournament.

WOMEN REPRESENTING CZECH REPUBLIC TO WIN WIMBLEDON (Open Era):
Jana Novotna [1998]
Petra Kvitova [2011, 2014]
Marketa Vondrousova [2023]
Barbora Krejcikova [2024]

Martina Navratilova, who is originally Czech, represented the United States when she won her all-time record nine Wimbledon titles in 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1990.

Krejcikova and Paolini had only played each other once before, with Krejcikova winning in the qualifying draw of the Australian Open in 2018, 6-2, 6-1, when neither of them were even Top 100.

This one was much tighter—after they split two lopsided sets, they traded holds for the first six games of the third set, when Paolini threw in a double fault to hand Krejcikova a crucial break.

Krejcikova then held at love for 5-3, and Paolini held for 5-4.

There was one last bit of drama to go, as Krejcikova missed out on her first two match points while trying to serve it out, but a Paolini backhand error on her third match point sealed the win.

A former world No. 2, Krejcikova came into Wimbledon ranked No. 32 after a season halted for two months due to a back injury, but with her second major trophy she’ll now jump back to No. 10.

And after reaching her second consecutive major final, Paolini will move up from No. 7 to a new career-high ranking of No. 5.