No. 31 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic overcame a furious comeback by No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy on Saturday to become the 2024 Wimbledon women’s singles champion after a hard-fought three-set battle.
Krejcikova defeated Paolini 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to become the Czech woman to win Wimbledon for the second consecutive year, after compatriot Marketa Vondroušova shocked the tennis world last year by becoming the first unseeded player to win the title.
“I’m speechless right now,” Krejcikova said on court after her win. “I can’t believe what just happened. Definitely the best day of my tennis career and the best day of my life.”
The win marks Krejcikova’s second Grand Slam singles title after winning the French Open singles title in 2021. She also won the doubles title in 2018 and 2022, making her a three-time Wimbledon champion.
Despite the loss, Paolini is enjoying a breakout year. She is the only Italian woman to reach a Wimbledon singles final in the Open Era, a feat she achieved despite never having won at the tournament before this year. The loss was her second Grand Slam final this year, after being beaten by world number one Iga Swiatek. I gave her a crushing defeat. During last month’s French Open final.
Krejcikova took control of the match from the first serve, exploiting weaknesses in Paolini’s serve and neutralizing the Italian’s usually strong defense. Krejcikova’s slicing forehand shots were too much for Paolini to handle, and the Czech won the first set 6-2.
Paolini is known for her tenacity, as evidenced by her record-breaking 2 hours, 51 minute comeback win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic, but she looked like a different person when she stepped onto the court in the second set. With renewed confidence, Paolini rallied to win the first three games, breaking Krejcikova’s first serve and then overpowering Krejcikova with her explosive speed, reading the play and aggressive baseline drives in the second set to win 6-2.
The third set was closely fought, with neither player able to break the other’s serve in the first six games, with both players alternating between winning the games. Krejcikova finally found a breakthrough in game seven, taking the lead and winning the set 6-4, although Paolini came within one point of breaking Krejcikova’s serve twice in the final moments of the game.
