Krejcikova edges Paolini for Wimbledon crown
● Barbora Krejcikova held off Italian crowd favourite Jasmine Paolini to win the Wimbledon women’s singles title yesterday, coming through 6-2 2-6 6-4 on a sunlit Centre Court.
The Czech doubles specialist had dominated the opening set with a near-perfect display but was then rocked by a dazzling Paolini fightback, which sent the showpiece into a decider.
A nervous third set swung Krejcikova’s way when she broke serve at 3-3 and she went on to complete victory on her third match point, adding the Wimbledon title to the French Open crown she captured in 2021.
It was heartache for the popular Paolini who lost the French Open final a few weeks ago and was bidding to become the first Italian player to win a Wimbledon singles title.
Krejcikova, who also owns 10 doubles Grand Slam titles — including two at Wimbledon — is the latest in a long line of Czechs to win the singles at Wimbledon, following Marketa Vondrousova’s triumph last year. Krejcikova began the match in confident fashion, striking the ball sweetly on her way to a break of serve in the first game before holding for a 2-0 lead. The 28-year-old from Brno was soon on the hunt for a double break but Paolini weathered some fierce ball-striking in her next service game to get herself on the scoreboard.
The Centre Court crowd came alive in the fourth game as Paolini showed unbelievable court coverage to stay in the point but to no avail as Krejcikova held for 3-1.
Paolini was chit-chatting to herself between points, trying to fire herself up in the face of a Krejcikova onslaught but another dropped service game left her reeling.
Dominating the baseline exchanges with her extra power, Krejcikova pouched the opener in 35 minutes and Paolini disappeared off court, presumably for a deep breath. The Italian returned with fire in her belly, and immediately the momentum shifted as she seized on the first Krejcikova dip to move into a 3-0 lead with some fluent winners.
Suddenly, it was Krejcikova who looked tight with consecutive double faults, adding more fuel to the Paolini fire but the Czech steadied down to avoid slipping 4-0 behind.
It was all Paolini though in the second set as she rode a wave of fervent crowd support to take the final to a decider.
The momentum looked to be with Paolini but she wavered at 3-3 in the decider with a double fault handing over a break of serve. Krejcikova was rock-solid on serve as the title inched closer but looked consumed by nerves at 5-4.
Two match points came and went but she finally got the job done at the third attempt.
● Without a title for more than six months, Novak Djokovic is now within touching distance of a record 25th Grand Slam trophy — with the all-conquering Serb saying Wimbledon always brings out the best in him.
For a champion who has become accustomed to trampling over the opposition, amassing almost 100 titles in his career, this lean spell is not something the 37-year-old is used to.
Djokovic lost in his Australian Open fortress at the start of the year, with his bid to win a record-extending 11th Melbourne Park title cut short in the semifinals.
A knee injury then prematurely ended his French Open title defence last month.
So when he reached today’s All England Club final after a 6-4 7-6(2) 6-4 win over Lorenzo Musetti on Friday, he was finally living up to his own lofty expectations.
Standing in his way to an eighth Wimbledon crown, which will see him equal Roger Federer’s mark, is Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in last year’s title clash.
“I’m aware that Roger holds eight Wimbledons. I hold seven. History is on the line. Also, the 25th potential Grand Slam serves as a great motivation, but at the same time it’s a lot of pressure and expectations,” Djokovic told reporters.
“Every time I step out on the court now, though I’m 37 and competing with 21-year-olds, I still expect myself to win most of the matches, and people expect me to win, whatever, 99% of the matches that I play. I always have to come out on court and perform my best to still be at the level with Carlos or Jannik [Sinner] or Sascha [Alexander Zverev] or Daniil [Medvedev].”
After winning three of the four majors last season, Djokovic has endured a disappointing run of form this year, with injuries adding to his woes.
In fact, for a while it looked like he would not be able to compete at this year’s Wimbledon after requiring knee surgery on a torn meniscus just five weeks ago.
Yet now he stands on the cusp of winning a 25th major and break a record that has stood for over half a century, with Margaret Court having won her 24th slam in 1973. “This year hasn’t been that successful for me. It’s probably the weakest results the first six months I’ve had in many years. That’s okay.
“I had to adapt and accept that and try to find a way out from the injury that I had and regroup. Wimbledon, historically, there’s been seasons where I wasn’t playing at a desired level but I would win a Wimbledon title and things would change,” said Djokovic, who squeezed past Federer to win the 2019 final after saving two championship points against him.
“Wimbledon just extracts the best of me and motivates me to really always show up and perform the best I can.”