‘Nobody will believe I won Wimbledon – I still can’t’

As Barbora Krejcikova stood with the Venus Rosewater Dish in her hands, there was one thing she could not stop saying.

“I don’t have any words right now, it’s just unbelievable,” the Czech said, to cheers from the crowd.

Asked what it means to the Czech Republic to have another Wimbledon champion, she said: “Well, I think nobody believes it that I got to the final and nobody believes that I won Wimbledon.

“I still can’t believe it.”

Krejcikova arrived at SW19 having won just three matches in five months, the result of a season plagued by injury and illness.

She leaves it as the Wimbledon champion, winning through seven matches in a row and closing it out with a thrilling 6-2 2-6 6-4 victory against seventh seed Jasmine Paolini.

The tournament began for Krejcikova with a tough three-set win over Veronika Kudermetova – a pair of tie-breaks followed by a 7-5 decider.

From somewhere, Krejcikova found the game that made the unbelievable dream a reality.

“Two weeks ago I had a very tough match, and I wasn’t in good shape before that because I was injured and ill,” she said.

“I didn’t really have a good beginning to the season. It’s unbelievable I’m stood here now and I’ve won Wimbledon.

“I have no idea [how it happened].”

The memory of Jana Novotna, Wimbledon champion in 1998, has been ever-present during the former French Open champion’s run to this title.

When she was aged 18, Krejcikova and her parents visited Novotna’s home and asked for her help.

Novotna agreed, becoming both coach and mentor. She and Krejcikova remained close until Novotna’s death from ovarian cancer in 2017 aged just 49.

“That day, knocking on her door, it changed my life,” Krejcikova said in her on-court interview.

“She was the one who told me I had the potential and I should definitely turn pro. Before she passed away she told me I can win a Slam.

“I achieved that in Paris in 2021 and it was an unbelievable moment for me and I never really dreamed I would win the same trophy as Jana did in 1998.”

The 28-year-old shuns hotels when she arrives at Wimbledon, preferring the “relaxed atmosphere” of the house where Novotna used to reside during the Championships.

The pair’s names are now both etched on the women’s champions board at Wimbledon – a sight that brought Krejcikova to tears as she stood there with the trophy afterwards.

“I think she would be proud,” Krejcikova said. “I think she would be really excited that I’m on a same board as she is because Wimbledon was super special for her.”

For Krejcikova, winning Wimbledon was not the childhood dream.

Instead it was French Open glory she was after – a goal she wrote in a notebook when she was 12 years old.

“Maybe things shifted a little bit when I actually met Jana and when she was telling me all the stories about Wimbledon, about the grass, how difficult it was for her to win the title and how emotional she was when she actually made it,” Krejcikova said.

“Since then I started to see Wimbledon like the biggest tournament in the world.”

For Paolini, it was a second Grand Slam singles final defeat in the space of five weeks after losing heavily to Iga Swiatek in the French Open showpiece.

In both Paris and Wimbledon, the 5ft 4in Italian became an instant fan favourite with her bubbly personality and never-say-die attitude.

But sheer determination and doggedness were not enough to stop Swiatek or Krejcikova when it mattered.

“I think I did better than the last final, but still not enough,” Paolini said in her news conference.

She will become the world number five when the latest rankings are released, becoming the first Italian woman to feature in the top five since Sara Errani in 2013.

However, when asked what the next step in her great rise would be, Paolini was stuck for words.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Sometimes I’m a little bit scared to dream too much. I have to say that.

“If I keep this level, I think I can have the chance to do great things.”