Barbora Krejcikova had a very simple but also blunt message to a troll wondering how she won the Wimbledon title this past summer.
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In July, the 28-year-old won her first title at The Championships after overcoming Jasmine Paolini 6-2 2-6 6-4 in the final. For the current world No. 10, it was her second Grand Slam main glory since she previously became a Major winner at the 2021 French Open.
However, since then, Krejcikova hasn't had much success. After losing in the Paris Olympics quarterfinal and falling just short of battling for a medal, the former world No. 2 got into a slump as she is just 1-3 in her last three tournaments played.
After picking up a surprise US Open second-round defeat to Elena-Gabriela Ruse, the eight-time WTA champion also got upset by Jaqueline Cristian and Hailey Baptiste in her Beijing and Wuhan opening matches. And the Czech's three-match losing streak seemingly led to one person wondering how she managed to win Wimbledon just three months earlier.
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"How did Barbora Krejcikova win Wimbledon," one X user asked.
The Czech tennis star responded in a simple but also blunt way: "I won 7 matches in a row. Thats how."
Krejcikova's Wimbledon win definitely wasn't a fluke and why it was so important
After kicking off her campaign at The All England Club with a notable win over former world No. 9 Veronika Kudermetova, the 28-year-old also beat a couple of other major names en route to winning the title - including Danielle Collins, Jelena Ostapenko, Elena Rybakina, and Paolini in the final.
For Krejcikova, it was a special but also an extremely emotional moment. Shortly after her triumph, Wimbledon chairwoman Debbie Jevans took the world No. 10 to the Wimbledon wall of champions and showed her the name of her mentor Jana Novotna, who won The Championships in 1988.
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In 2017, Czech tennis legend Novotna passed away at just the age of 49 after battling cancer. Before that, she was the one who convinced Krejcikova that she was talented enough to pursue a pro tennis career and she also mentored the current star.
After seeing the name of her late mentor and realizing that she also joined the former world No. 1 on the list of Wimbledon champions, Krejcikova broke down in tears.
"Well, the only thing that was going through my head was that I miss Jana a lot. It was just very, very emotional. Very emotional moment to see me on a board right next to here. I think she would be proud. I think she would be really excited that I'm on a same board as she is because Wimbledon was super special for her," the 2024 Wimbledon champion said.
When Krejcikova was making her first steps on the WTA Tour, Novotna was there to guide her both as a mentor and coach.
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"We started beginning of 2014 until she passed away. Well, like I'm not exactly sure what I wrote in the letter right now, but I wrote something that I'm playing tennis, that I'm 18, I just finished juniors, and that I don't know what to do right now. So if she could, like, look at me and maybe help me, guide me, tell me which direction should I go," the 28-year-old said.
How Krejcikova felt after getting to two Grand Slam wins?
In 2021, the Czech tennis star made her big Slam breakthrough after winning the French Open. But after that, she started to deal with injuries and illnesses, which negatively impacted her results.
Going into this year's Wimbledon, she absolutely wasn't considered a favorite for the title as the No. 31 seed. But she managed to deliver that tennis that made her a Slam champ in 2021 and it resulted in her becoming a two-time Slam winner.
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"No, I still feel the same. I mean, it's great that I'm a two-time major champion. It's something unbelievable. I mean, on the other hand, yeah, I'm still the same person. I still love tennis very much. I still want to continue playing tennis well and fight for other tournaments," the Czech said.
When serving for the Wimbledon title, Krejcikova faced two break points but managed to save them before realizing her third championship point. Later, she admitted that she battled the nerves.
"I mean, I expect it's going to be difficult to serve it out, but I believe that I can do it. I started the game well. Jasmine, she was returning quite well. She put every single ball in. We were fighting for the balls. I mean, the only thing I was telling myself, Just try to make first serve and try to play your shot and just be brave," she explained.
