London: Barbora Krejcikova beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final on Saturday, winning her second Grand Slam title. Krejcikova is a 28-year-old from the Czech Republic who added this trophy to her championship at the French Open in 2021, the Associated Press reported.
She was unseeded in Paris back then and 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.
Krejcikova is the eighth woman to leave Wimbledon as the champion in the past eight editions of the event. Last year's champion was also from the Czech Republic: unseeded Marketa Vondrousova, who lost in the first round last week.
The seventh-seeded Paolini was the runner-up at the French Open last month and is the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to get to the finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season.
IANS reported that Krejcikova is the oldest player to win her first Wimbledon title since Angelique Kerber six years ago. She is the fifth Czech player to reach the women's singles finals at Wimbledon in the Open Era, following Jana Novotna, Petra Kvitova, Karolina Pliskova, and Marketa Vondrousova.
She is the second Czech player in the Open Era to make the women's singles finals in both Wimbledon and Roland Garros after Marketa Vondrousova. On Saturday, Krejcikova also became the first Czech player in the Open Era to secure women’s singles Grand Slam titles at different events.