LONDON
\nBarbora Krejcikova kept insisting that nobody \u2014 not her friends, not her family, not even herself \u2014 would believe she won Wimbledon for her second Grand Slam title.
\nHer first major championship, as an unseeded player at the French Open three years ago, certainly was a surprise. This one, which came via a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Jasmine Paolini in the final at the All England Club on Saturday, was maybe just as unpredictable, sure, but perhaps now it\u2019s time to recognize that these sorts of results from Krejcikova are not only possible but make perfect sense.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s just unreal what just happened. Definitely the best day of my tennis career \u2014 and also the best day of my life,\u201d said Krejcikova, a 28-year-old from the Czech Republic, who thanked her late mentor, 1998 Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, for pushing her into professional tennis.
\nEven while holding her gold champion\u2019s plate, Krejcikova described herself as \u201cthe lucky one\u201d for getting past the seventh-seeded Paolini, who also was the runner-up at the French Open last month.
\nKrejcikova was only the 31st of 32 seeds at the All England Club after illness and a back injury this season limited her to a 7-9 record entering this tournament. Then came a three-setter in the first round last week, adding to the doubts.
\nBut by the end of the fortnight, there Paolini was during the trophy ceremony, telling Krejcikova: \u201cYou play such beautiful tennis.\u201d
\nKrejcikova is the eighth woman to leave Wimbledon as the champion in the past eight editions of the event. Last year\u2019s champion also is from the Czech Republic: unseeded Marketa Vondrousova, who lost in the first round last week.
\nPaolini is the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to get to the finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season \u2014 and the first since Venus Williams in 2002 to lose both.
\nSaturday\u2019s finalists took turns being in charge.
\nPlaying coolly and efficiently \u2014 seemingly effortlessly \u2014 Krejcikova claimed 10 of the first 11 points and quickly owned a double-break lead at 5-1.
\nAs much as the crowd, likely because of a desire to see a more competitive contest, pulled loudly for Paolini, yelling \u201cForza!\u201d (\u201cLet\u2019s go!\u201d) the way she often does, or \u201cCalma!\u201d (\u201cBe calm!\u201d), Krejcikova never wavered.
\nShe has net skills, to be sure \u2014 that\u2019s part of why she has won seven Grand Slam women\u2019s doubles titles, including two at Wimbledon \u2014 but Krejcikova mainly was content to stay back at the baseline, simply delivering one smooth groundstroke after another to its appointed spot and getting the better of the lengthiest exchanges.
\nThere really was no need for anything other than Plan A in the early going in front of a Center Court crowd that included actors Tom Cruise, Kate Beckinsale and Hugh Jackman.
\nPaolini did try to shake things up a bit, with the occasional serve-and-volley rush forward or drop shot, but she couldn\u2019t solve Krejcikova. Not yet, anyway.
\nAfter the lopsided first set, Paolini went to the locker room. She emerged a different player, one who no longer looked like someone burdened by residual fatigue from the longest women\u2019s semifinal in Wimbledon history, her 2-hour, 51-minute win over Donna Vekic on Thursday.
\nPaolini had come back from dropping the first set in that one, so she knew she had it in her. And she began the second set against Krejcikova in style, using deep groundstrokes to grab a 3-0 advantage.
\nOnce the match was tied at a set apiece, it was Krejcikova who left the court to try to recalibrate.
\nHer shots that suddenly went so awry in the match\u2019s middle \u2014 after just four winners in the second set, she accumulated 14 in the third \u2014 were back to being crisp and clean.
\n\u201cI was just telling myself to be brave,\u201d Krejcikova said.
\nAt 3-all in the deciding set, it was Paolini who faltered, double-faulting for the only time all afternoon to get broken.
\nKrejcikova then held at love for 5-3, but when she served for the championship, things got a little tougher.
\nShe needed to save a pair of break points and required three match points to get across the finish line, winning when Paolini missed a backhand.
\n\u201cNobody believes that I got to the final. And I think nobody\u2019s going to believe that I won Wimbledon,\u201d Krejcikova said several minutes later. \u201cI still cannot believe it. It\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Barbora Krejcikova kept insisting that nobody \u2014 not her friends, not her family, not even herself \u2014 would believe she won Wimbledon for her second Grand Slam title. Her first major championship, as an unseeded player at the French Open three years ago, certainly was a surprise. This one, which came via a 6-2, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-418367","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n