Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic defeated Italy’s Jasmine Paolini to win the Wimbledon women’s title on Saturday for her second Grand Slam singles triumph.
Krejcikova, the 31st seed, won 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to add the 2024 All England Club crown to her 2021 French Open victory.
Her win comes 26 years after her mentor Jana Novotna, who died of cancer in 2017, claimed the Wimbledon title.
Krejcikova, who will return to the top 10 following her victory, came into Wimbledon after a testing season.
A back injury and illness meant she went winless on the tour from February until June.
The result means seventh-seeded Paolini has lost two Grand Slam finals back-to-back after coming off second best to Iga Swiatek at the French Open last month.
She added: “Barbora, you played unbelievable. You play such beautiful tennis. Congrats to you and your team.”
Krejcikova set the tone at the start of the match by breaking the Italian in the opening game and backing up the advantage with a hold to love.
Paolini, the first Italian woman to reach a Wimbledon singles final, had to save two break points in the third game but she cracked under the strain again as the composed Czech stormed into a double-break ahead for 4-1.
Krejcikova moved to three set points in the eighth game and only needed one as Paolini dumped a backhand return into the net
The nerve-wracked Italian managed to claim just four points on the Czech’s serve in the 35-minute opener. Krejcikova hit 10 winners to the Italian’s five.
