A new women’s champion will be crowned at Wimbledon on Saturday when surprise finalists Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova face each other in an intriguing encounter.
Paolini is vying to become Italy’s first Wimbledon singles champion, while her opponent is hoping to continue the Czech Republic’s proud record in the championships.
At 5ft 4in tall, Paolini would also be the shortest Grand Slam singles champion in the Open era, having never tasted victory in a main tour match on grass until this summer.
Krejcikova had only won three matches in five months before the tournament after struggling with illness and injury.
The two 28-year-olds have taken advantage of an open women’s draw and are now one match away from lifting the famous Venus Rosewater Dish.
Whoever wins on Saturday, it is also guaranteed there will be a first-time Wimbledon champion for the seventh year in a row.
Paolini, the first Italian woman to reach a Wimbledon final in the Open era, had lost in the opening round at SW19 in each of her three previous appearances.
But she has made up for lost time this fortnight and picked up new fans along the way with her athleticism and warm personality, even admitting after one match that she found time to do her nails before her semi-final.
Too scared to admit “winning Wimbledon was one of her dreams” until this week, her remarkable run was kickstarted at the French Open six weeks ago.
Paolini went beyond the third round of a major for the first time and eventually made it all the way to the final, losing to world number one Iga Swiatek.
At Wimbledon, the seventh seed has continued her fantastic form, storming to victory in her first three matches before her fourth round match against Madison Keys was ended abruptly by injury to the American.
Paolini took just 58 minutes to breeze past Emma Navarro in the quarter-finals and followed that up with an astonishing, record-breaking semi-final win over Donna Vekic.
Six-time singles champion Billie Jean King praised her shot-making afterwards, with 2021 champion Ash Barty remarking there is “no ball she doesn’t run or fight for”.
World number 32 Krejcikova had a difficult season before Wimbledon and admitted to “doubts inside” before her team told her to “keep going and fighting”.
She is now aiming to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Marketa Vondrousova, who stunned Ons Jabeur in last year’s final.
Krejcikova is the fifth Czech player to reach a Wimbledon final in the Open era, with other singles champions at SW19 including two-time winner Petra Kvitova and Jana Novotna, who coached Krejcikova before she died of ovarian cancer in 2017.
“We have a huge tennis history in the Czech Republic at Wimbledon,” said Krejcikova.
“When I was growing up, I had a lot of players that I could look up to.”
She has the experience of playing in and winning a Grand Slam singles final, having triumphed at the 2021 French Open. She has also completed the career Slam in doubles, and has an Olympic doubles title to boot
Krejcikova, who won the French Open three years ago, reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January but was soon hampered with back problems and illnesses.
She only played nine matches between the Australian Open and Wimbledon, winning three, with two of those victories coming in Birmingham in June.
But at Wimbledon she has excelled, beating 11th seed Danielle Collins in the fourth round, former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals, and recovering from a set down to beat favourite Rybakina in the last four.
Krejcikova can also take heart from the two women’s doubles titles at Wimbledon she lifted with Katerina Siniakova in 2018 and 2022.
And, always the doubles specialist, she still likes to approach the net to finish off points quickly – a stark contrast to Paolini who controls lengthy rallies from the baseline.
