Krejcikova Collects Second Slam, Too Good For Paolini In Wimbledon Final

One of the most surprising Wimbledon finals ended with Barbora Krejcikova cementing her Hall of Fame status with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Jasmine Paolini.

“I don’t have any words,” Krejcikova said. “It’s unbelievable what just happened. The best day of my tennis career, and the best day of my life.

“It’s super difficult to explain what I’m feeling right now.”

Krejcikova entered the tournament with just seven wins on the season having missed time due to injury. Paolini had been on a run reaching the French Open final but she had never won a match on grass going into June.

However, the bubbly Italian showed no signs of slowing down posting win-after-win on the grass.

Krejcikova has two previous Wimbledon titles in doubles, had won the French in 2021 and had proven to be a clutch big match player winning 11 of 12 Grand Slam finals she had been in.

Krejcikova serve and power, though, was the difference. The Czech, a 100-1 shot at the start of the event, power through the first set thanks to her serve.

Paolini took a bathroom break after the first to reset and reset she did. Paolini began taking control of the points, found form on the forehand and forced a decider to the thrill of the crowd.

This time, Krejcikova left the court and reset. And both players served well until Paolini stumbled getting broken at 3-all.

Having barely lost points on serve in the set, Krejcikova felt the pressure, saving multiple break points at 5-4, before serving it out on her third match point.

“I started well,” Krejcikova said. “For me it was good. It was a good start to the match. I was happy with the first set.

“Then in the second I think she improved. I think she kind of, like, all the stress and everything just went away, and she started to be more smooth and started to play better. I still had my chances there, but I didn’t convert them.

“In the third we were holding the serves. I mean, I was just fighting for every single ball. I believe that I’m going to get the opportunity to break her, and I did.”

Paolini still had an incredible run and it’s not over yet.

“Today is a little bit tough to speak now,” Paolini said. “It’s been a really good two weeks. I have to accept today and to try to work hard. I’m sure I’m going to do it, but today it’s tough to speak because I was close but not enough.

“I started bad. But, I said, Okay, take some time and try to relax and to come back in the second set stronger to try to push the ball more because I was a little bit controlling too much, and I missed a lot of shots.

“She was playing, honestly, very good the first set. She was serving really, really good. High percentage of first serves. Was tough. But I think I did better than the last final, but still not enough.”

Krejcikova has now won two Singles Slams, 7 in doubles, 3 in mixed and a gold medal. She will return to the Top 10 on Monday.

“I have no idea why this tournament,” Krejcikova said. “I had really tough draw from the very first match. I was just going match by match. I was just feeling better and getting better. Here I am. I don’t know how that happen. But, yes, I’m a winner of this edition.”

Krejcikova becomes the eighth different champion in the last eight Wimbledons.

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