Czech it out: Barbora Krejcikova dismantles Jasmine Paolini for her second Grand Slam

London, July 13

Barbora Krejcikova kept insisting that nobody — not her friends, not her family, not even herself — would believe she won Wimbledon for her second Grand Slam title.

Her first Major championship, as an unseeded player at the French Open three years ago, certainly was a surprise. This one, which came via a 6-2 2-6 6-4 victory over Jasmine Paolini in the final at the All England Club today, was maybe just as unpredictable, sure, but perhaps now it’s time to recognise that these sorts of results from Krejcikova are not only possible but make perfect sense.

4 Krejcikova is the fourth Czech player to win the women’s title at Wimbledon in the Open Era after her one-time mentor Jana Novotna, Petra Kvitova and last year’s champion Marketa Vondrousova

“It’s just unreal what just happened. Definitely the best day of my tennis career — and also the best day of my life,” said Krejcikova, a 28-year-old from the Czech Republic, who thanked her late mentor, 1998 Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, for pushing her into professional tennis.

Even while holding her gold champion’s plate, Krejcikova described herself as “the lucky one” for getting past the seventh-seeded Paolini, who also was the runner-up at the French Open last month. Krejcikova was only the 31st of 32 seeds at the All England Club after illness and a back injury this season limited her to a 7-9 record entering this tournament. Then came a three-setter in the first round last week, adding to the doubts.

But by the end of the fortnight, there Paolini was during the trophy ceremony, telling Krejcikova: “You play such beautiful tennis.” — AP

History on line as Djoker faces Alcaraz

Not surprisingly, Novak Djokovic was far from convinced he could win Wimbledon when the tournament began less than a month after his knee.”I was just thinking about moving well (and) not injuring myself,” he said. Now he’s just one victory away from what would be an eighth title at Wimbledon — equalling Roger Federer for the most by a man — and a 25th Grand Slam trophy overall, more than any tennis player ever. Won’t be easy: Tomorrow, Djokovic will face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final; Kate, the Princess of Wales, is set to be there. AP