Wimbledon: Krejcikova wins title after beating Paolini

• This is the second individual Grand Slam for the Czech tennis player, who has four doubles titles | Photo: EFE

Czech Barbora Krejcikova became a Grand Slam champion once more following defeating Italian Jasmine Paolini (6-2, 2-6 and 6-4) in the Wimbledon final.

Krejcikova, three years following winning her first Grand Slam singles title at Roland Garros, once once more tasted the fruits of a success that had eluded her since Paris 2021, but which she had achieved in doubles, with four titles.

The Czech has put an end to Paolini’s dream, as she has reached two consecutive finals, at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, a double of disappointments for a tennis player who at 28 years of age is playing the best tennis of her career and has achieved two more than unexpected results, having never made it past the last 16 of a Grand Slam before the last event in Paris.

Nerves betrayed the Italian at the start of the match and she lost the first set too quickly, in just over half an hour. Paolini lost her serve twice and was unable to generate a single break point throughout the entire set.

Having shaken off the grip of the first set, Paolini began to play better, holding on to the exchanges and not allowing the Czech, a much more aggressive player, to dominate the points. Dressed in rage and determination to fight to the end, the Italian wreaked havoc in the second set and beat Krejcikova to level the final.

The match was not pretty and she made 60 unforced errors by the end of the match, but it was interesting and exciting in the third set, when Krejcikova ran riot on her serve. In her first four sets, she only lost one point on serve, while Paolini began to struggle more and more on hers until she surrendered it at 3-3.

The break, given the clarity of Krejcikova’s serve, who dared to come to the net and prevent the points from being extended, seemed definitive, but the Czech, based on unforced errors, made it exciting, with a final game that was the longest of the set and the one in which she had to save two break points before winning the title on the third match point.

Krejcikova: “It’s the best day of my career”

EFE

“I have no words to describe this, it’s just incredible that it happened. It’s the best day of my career and my life,” said Krejcikova, with the title in her hands.

Krejcikova, who succeeds Marketa Vondrousova in the list of winners, adds her second Grand Slam title, following Roland Garros, and gets back into the top ten.

Paolini is missing out on glory for the second consecutive Grand Slam. The Italian has proven to be at the level of the world’s best, but has failed in the final stages in both Paris and London. Even so, she will appear in a career-best fifth place in the rankings next Monday.

“The last two months have been incredible for me. I tried to smile, because I wanted to remind myself that today is still a good day,” admitted the Italian following the defeat.

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