Tennis

Barbora Krejcikova channels spirit of Novotna to fulfil Wimbledon dreams

Inspired by her compatriot’s love of and success at SW19, the Czech has ticked off another item on her bucket list

Barbora Krejcikova of The Czech Republic speaks during a press conference after winning Wimbledon. Photograph: Joe Toth/AELTC via Getty
Barbora Krejcikova of The Czech Republic speaks during a press conference after winning Wimbledon. Photograph: Joe Toth/AELTC via Getty
Simon Cambers
Sun Jul 14 2024 - 16:33

At the age of 12, Barbora Krejcikova wrote in a notebook three things that she would like to achieve in the future, if she was fortunate enough to make it as a professional tennis player. At that stage, she had no idea if she would be able to make a living from the sport but she was dreaming big.

“I think I wrote there that I wanted to be a top 10 tennis player,” the Czech said on Saturday evening, a few hours after becoming Wimbledon champion for the first time with a thrilling win against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.

“I think I wrote there that I would like to win Roland Garros and I think I wrote there that I would like to represent Czech Republic during the Olympics and get the medal.”

Tick, tick, tick. Krejcikova had already achieved all three things before coming to Wimbledon. She has been ranked as high as number two, won the French Open in 2021 and won the doubles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics with Katerina Siniakova.

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Winning Wimbledon was not something she had even considered at that stage and it was only after she met the late Jana Novotna, her fellow Czech and the winner here in 1998, that triumphing on the grass really entered her mind.

“Maybe things shifted a little bit when I actually met Jana and when she was telling me all the stories about Wimbledon, about the grass, how difficult it was for her to win the title and how emotional she was when she actually made it,” the Czech said. “I think since then I started to see Wimbledon as the biggest tournament in the world.”

It was when she was 14 that Krejcikova put a letter through the door of Novotna, who lived in the same town as her, Brno, that her life changed. Krejcikova can’t remember the exact words she used but she asked Novotna if she would be able to help her fulfil her dreams, to put her on the right track. Novotna accepted and coached Krejcikova from 2014 right up to her death in 2017, after a long battle with cancer.

Barbora Krejcikova poses with the Ladies' Singles Trophy alongside Jasmine Paolini of Italy. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty
Barbora Krejcikova poses with the Ladies' Singles Trophy alongside Jasmine Paolini of Italy. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty

Krejcikova has now won 12 grand slam titles in all, two in singles, seven in women’s doubles and three in mixed. Watching her hold her poise in the final, it’s strange to think that until 2020, she was primarily considered a doubles player. “I was playing very well in doubles but in singles I was just outside of the 100,” said the 28-year-old, who will return to the top 10 on Monday.

“I tried to combine the singles and doubles career but it was difficult. Things kind of clicked after Covid, during 2020 and I finally got into the top 100. From that I was able to get some good results also in singles.”

If her French Open title in 2021 was unexpected, due to her relatively low ranking, so was this one, thanks to a first half of the year interrupted by injury and illness. After a promising start, when she reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, she picked up a bacterial virus in Miami, got Covid in Madrid and lost all four of her matches on clay, including a first-round exit at Roland Garros.

“It wasn’t really a good journey coming to Wimbledon,” she said. “I didn’t have to spend time in hospital but I had 10 days of antibiotics, which is not really good for the body and for the system. And then with Covid I was isolating myself and I had [a temperature of] 39 degrees for five days, so it was quite severe. It was a very tough, tough, tough period.”

Her success at Wimbledon is all the more impressive for that. Keeping herself calm between matches by doing Lego – she would like to see a Wimbledon Centre Court option come on the market – Krejcikova came through tough matches early on before hitting her stride. As pure a ball-striker as anyone, she always had the game to succeed on any surface and is one of only two active women, together with Simona Halep, to have won both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Laid-back and not one for big celebrations, she doesn’t know what to expect when she returns to the Czech Republic but is excited to play in Prague later this month. From there, she will head to Paris for the Olympics where she will be gunning for a first singles gold and be reunited with Siniakova in doubles, the pair having split at the end of 2023.

“I love to represent my country,” she said. “I experienced the Tokyo Olympics. It was something unbelievable. I really enjoyed the atmosphere at Czech House and also meeting other athletes from different countries. It was very, very nice, different than the regular tennis tournaments. I’m really looking forward to that.” – Guardian