By HOWARD FENDRICH LONDON — At age 18, a decade before Barbora Krejcikova won Wimbledon on July 13, she was done with junior tennis and couldn’t decide whether to pursue a professional tennis career or move on, go to school and find a different path. So Krejcikova wrote a letter to one of her idols, 1998 Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, and dropped it off at her home in their native Czech Republic. Not only did Novotna tell Krejcikova she had talent and should stick with the sport, but she also became a mentor until dying of cancer in 2017.
“Before she passed away,” Krejcikova said, “she told me to go and win a Slam.” How about two? Krejcikova was an unseeded, surprising winner at the French Open three years ago and added to her trophy case with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Jasmine Paolini in the final at the All England Club. Shortly after the match ended, Krejcikova went and looked at her just-printed name on the list of Wimbledon champions posted in a Centre Court hallway — and saw Novotna’s there, too.
“The only thing that was going through my head,” Krejcikova said of that moment, “was that I miss Jana a lot. It was just very, very emotional. .
.. I think she would be proud.
” Even after holding on to win on her third match point, Krejcikova insisted that nobody — not her friends, not her family, not even herself — would believe what she’s accomplished. It was relatively unlikely, after all, given that she dealt with a back injury and illness .