The run of improbable women’s Wimbledon champions continued on Saturday with world No. 32 Barbora Krejcikova taking down No. 7 Jasmine Paolini in the finals, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
Krejcikova defeated four players ranked in the top-14 in the world rankings en route to her first Wimbledon title, also beating No. 11 Danielle Collins in straight sets in the Round of 16, No. 14 Jelena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the semis after dropping the first set.
Before Wimbledon started, Krejcikova was at +12500 to win the tournament.
Last season, Marketa Vondrousova (+8000) defeated Ons Jabeur in straight sets for the shocking win.
In 2022, Rybakina (+450) described her Wimbledon win as being by “mistake or by luck.”
Over the last eight years, eight different women have won the event: Serena Williams (2016), Garbine Muguruza (2017), Angelique Kerber (2018), Simona Halep (2019), Ashleigh Barty (2021), Rybakina, Vondrousova and Krejcikova.
Except for Williams, the winners have mostly been unexpected. But Krejcikova’s win might be the least likely of all.
Entering Wimbledon, the 2021 French Open winner had a 2024 match record of 7-9, including a 0-4 record on clay and 2-2 on grass.
“I still cannot believe it,” Krejcikova confessed following the final on the court.
“Just two weeks ago, I started here. I had a very tough first match,” she elaborated.
“I wasn’t really in a good shape before that because I was injured. I didn’t really have a good beginning of the season,” continued the two-time Wimbledon doubles champion (2018, 2022).
Krejcikova lost to No. 25 Leylah Fernandez in a first-round match at the Rothesay International on June 24. She needed three sets to defeat No. 38 Veronika Kudermetova in her first match at Wimbledon.
“I mean, it’s unbelievable,” Krejicova said.
With the crowd roaring with applause behind her, the 2024 Wimbledon winner spoke for all of us as she incredulously asked, “How did that happen?”
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