Barbora Krejcikova wins Wimbledon women's singles title after holding off Jasmine Paolini

Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic celebrates after defeating Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the women's singles final at the Wimbledon tennis championships Credit: AP

Barbora Krejcikova won Wimbledon for her second Grand Slam title with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Jasmine Paolini in the final on Saturday.

Krejcikova, a 28-year-old Czech player, also won the French Open championship in 2021.

She 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.

The seventh-seeded Italian player 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.

Krejcikova’s win comes 26 years after her mentor, Jana Novotna won her only slam title, lifting the trophy she most wanted having famously cried on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent five years previously following defeat by Steffi Graf.

Novotna took a teenage Krejcikova under her wing but died of cancer in 2017 aged 49 before she could see her protege flourish in the professional game.

Both finalists Saturday took turns being charge of the run of play.

Playing coolly and efficiently — seemingly effortlessly — Krejcikova claimed 10 of the first 11 points and quickly owned a double-break lead at 5-1.

Paolini did try to shake things up a bit, with the occasional serve-and-volley rush forward or drop shot, but she couldn’t solve Krejcikova.

After taking a break from court, Paolini came back and began the second set against Krejcikova in style, delivering deep groundstrokes and grabbing a 3-0 advantage.

Once the match was tied at a set apiece, it was Krejcikova who left the court to try to recalibrate.

At 3-all in the deciding set, it was Paolini who faltered, double-faulting for the only time all afternoon to get broken.

Krejcikova then held at love for 5-3, but when she served for the championship, things got a little tougher.

She 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.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...