As a precocious 12-year-old tennis novice, Barbora Krejcikova had jotted down in her notebook that her ambition was to win the French Open. Three years after realizing that goal, she proclaimed that 13 July 2024 was the best day of her life after she clutched the Wimbledon trophy - something she hadn't even dared to dream of in her childhood. A 6-2 2-6 6-4 triumph over Jasmine Paolini on the battered Centre Court grass ensured the 28-year-old became the newest Czech to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish, following in the footsteps of Petra Kvitova, Marketa Vondrousova, and her late mentor Jana Novotna.
"Winning any slam is fantastic. Winning here at Wimbledon is monumental for me," Krejcikova said, her eyes welling up when she saw Novotna's name on the honors board earlier. "I wouldn't say it was a childhood dream. I have a notebook from when I was 12. I don't know, maybe three or four months ago, I was flipping through it.
I had written that in the future... I wanted to win the French Open... Maybe things changed a bit after I met Jana and she shared stories about Wimbledon, the grass, how tough it was for her to win the title and how emotional she was when she finally did it.
I think from then on, I started to view Wimbledon as the pinnacle of tournaments." Novotna, who passed away in 2017 after a fight with cancer, was beloved by fans when she cried on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder during the presentation ceremony after losing to Steffi Graf in the 1993 final, where she squandered a 5-1 lead in the deciding set. She was also a symbol of resilience at Wimbledon, having lost the 1997 final before finally claiming the title the following year.
"I think she would tell me that she is incredibly proud of me and that she's overjoyed," added Krejcikova, who started working with Novotna in 2014. Krejcikova continued to say that it was the best day of her life in her on-court speech and later in a press conference, she added that she was also playing the best tennis of her career.
"Because today was very challenging, and I really had to dig deep in every aspect. Both in tennis and mentally," Krejcikova added. "I'm immensely proud that I was able to do that, to keep everything together, and to just win the final."
