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Barbora Krejcikova toppled fellow French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon 2024. While she took the first set quite comfortably, she survived a late surge from the Latvian to beat her 6-4, 7-6 (4). After that, she downed former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the penultimate match to reach her maiden final at SW19.
Despite the Czech's prior achievements, her run has come as a little bit of a surprise. She struggled with health issues, either injuries or sickness, since her quarterfinal finish at the Australian Open earlier this year.
However, Krejcikova has once again flown under the radar to make it deep at a Major. This is her second Grand Slam semifinal, and her first since her triumph at the French Open three years ago. Now that she's in the limelight once again, here's a quick look into some lesser-known facts about her:
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#1 - Barbora Krejcikova was coached and mentored by the late Jana Novotna
The Czech Republic has been a powerhouse in women's tennis for decades. When Krejcikova first started to play tennis at a young age, she caught the eye of Czech great Jana Novotna, a former World No. 2 in singles, who also won the Wimbledon title in 1998.
Krejcikova was mentored by Novotna since her childhood, and became her full-time coach in 2014. Unfortunately, the latter's tragic demise due to cancer brought an end to their partnership in 2017. The 28-year old dedicated her French Open triumph to her late coach.
#2 - Barbora Krejcikova was a successful junior player
Krejcikova was ranked as high as No. 3 in the junior rankings. She teamed up with Katerina Siniakova to sweep three of the four girls' doubles titles in 2013, with only the Australian Open escaping their clutches.
Krejcikova also won the European Junior Championships for players under the age of 18, in singles as well as doubles. She won five titles on the ITF circuit as a junior, and reached an additional two finals.
#3 - Barbora Krejcikova has a career Super Slam in doubles
Krejcikova, along with her partner Siniakova, were highly rated junior players. However, their domination didn't stop there as they successfully made the transition to the WTA Tour.
They captured their Maiden major title at the 2018 French Open, and followed it up with a win at Wimbledon. They won the French Open in 2021, the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics after that, and triumphed at the WTA Finals later that year.
2022 was a massive year for the duo as they kicked off the season with a triumph at the Australian Open. They won their second Wimbledon title, and finally lifted the US Open trophy for the first time.
Their victory in New York helped them complete a career Super Slam, winning all four Majors, an Olympic gold, and the WTA Finals. They became the first pair to accomplish this feat as well as the third and fourth women to do so, after Gigi Fernandez and Pam Shriver.
#4 - Barbora Krejcikova is the only player to defeat Iga Swiatek in multiple WTA finals
Swiatek's dominance in recent years harkens back to the glory days of Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, and other greats. She is even tougher to beat in the latter stages of a tournament, and has won 22 titles from 26 finals.
Of those four defeats in championship rounds, Krejcikova is the only one to inflict two losses on Swiatek. She first beat the Pole in the final of the 2022 Ostrava Open in three sets.
They squared off a few months later in the summit clash of the Dubai Tennis Championships, and this time the Czech won in straight sets. Given Swiatek's impressive resume, getting the better of her twice in finals is an achievement in itself.
#5 - Barbora Krejcikova won the French Open after saving a match point
After dominating the doubles field, it took Krejcikova quite some time to make her breakthrough in singles. She reached her maiden Grand Slam semifinal at the 2021 French Open, and faced Maria Sakkari for a spot in the final.
The two threw the kitchen sink at each other, and it was Sakkari who had the first shot at victory. She had a match point on Krejcikova's serve at 5-4 in the third set, though the latter fended it off for a hold of serve. The Czech eventually came out on top for a 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 victory.
Krejcikova later defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to claim her very first Grand Slam title in singles. She's now a couple of wins away from doing the same at Wimbledon, and could replicate what her mentor and coach Novotna achieved.
