More than quarter-of-a-century since her late mentor famously triumphed, Barbora Krejcikova has earned another emotional victory to become Wimbledon singles champion.
The 28-year-old Czech, who shocked tennis back in 2021 by lifting the French Open title, roared to another surprising triumph on Saturday by repelling a comeback from Italian No 7 seed Jasmine Paolini to follow in the footsteps of her late former coach Jana Novotna, who won in 1998.
Krejcikova, the No 31 seed, prevailed 6-2 2-6 6-4 in four minutes under two hours after an absorbing final that looked in the balance until she began to assert herself from 3-3 in the final set.
Famously, Novotna broke down and cried on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after she blew her first chance in the 1993 final to Steffi Graf, and there were just a couple of moments as two match points came and went that Krejcikova may have feared slipping up in similar fashion.
But at the third time of asking, Paolini, who had also been a losing finalist at the French Open a month ago, felt that sinking feeling again as her bid to become the first Italian Wimbledon champion died.
