Jasmine Paolini lost the final. © ANSA / NEIL HALL

Jasmine Paolini misses Wimbledon title

Czech tennis player Barbora Krejcikova has been crowned Wimbledon champion.

July 13, 2024

From: dpa/dl

The 28-year-old won the surprise final in London against Italian Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Krejcikova thus celebrated her second Grand Slam triumph in singles after the French Open title in 2021.

The Czech is the successor of her compatriot Marketa Vondrousova and earned prize money equivalent to around 3,2 million euros. Paolini, the first Italian finalist in the grass court Grand Slam tournament, received just under 1,7 million euros. A little over a month ago, Paolini also reached the French Open final, but had no chance against the Polish world number one Iga Swiatek.

Barbora Krejcikova won the surprise final. © APA/afp / ANDREJ ISAKOVIC

Krejcikova got off to a much better start in front of acting star Tom Cruise and left her mark on the match right from the start. The 2021 French Open winner took the Italian's serve in the opening game, but she also seemed more nervous. Paolini never really got into the game in the first set and had to give up her serve again at 1:4. After just 35 minutes, Krejcikova, whose serve had been untouchable for the 1,63 m tall Paolini until then, served to nil to win the set 6:2.

Paolini fights in vain

As if out of nowhere, the lively, combative Italian managed to turn things around after a short break in the locker room between sets. In her second major final in a row after the French Open run (loss to Iga Swiatek), Paolini changed her tactics and avoided her opponent's strong forehand. This time she managed the first break herself to make it 2-0. Suddenly, the fifth-ranked player in the world rankings as of Monday showed confidence and made it 3-0 after fending off a break point.


Her coach, the former world-class player Renzo Furlan, also appreciated this. Krejcikova showed nerves, but after two double faults in a row she fended off two break points to make it 0:4. But Paolini did not give up the momentum, kept pushing herself with her right fist and, to the delight of the fans, she forced a deciding set after just 71 minutes and another break to make it 6:2.

Barbora Krejcikova (l.) won Wimbledon, Jasmine Paolini lost her second final in a row. © APA/afp / HENRY NICHOLLS

As expected, after two clear sets, the match was a close one. Both players held serve until 3:3, before the Italian, who was the crowd's favorite and who had won the hearts of the British with her emotional style over the course of the tournament, had to give up serve with a double fault, making it 3:4.

This almost broke Paolini's resistance. But in the tenth game, at 4:5, she still had a chance to break back. Krejcikova also showed in the finish how important this victory was to her. At 5:4, after fending off a break point, she used her third match point to triumph.