On a temperate afternoon at London’s All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Barbora Krejčíková of the Czech Republic and Jasmine Paolini of Italy both played their first Wimbledon singles final on Saturday, with Krejčíková, the 31-seed, winning the match 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
In front of a crowd that included Maria Sharapova (who won her own maiden Wimbledon title 20 years ago at the age of 17), Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, and Ashleigh Barty—as well as celebrities like Zendaya, Tom Cruise, Hugh Jackman, and Kate Beckinsale—Krejčíková turned in a nearly perfect opening set, hitting very cleanly (and very hard). With one major singles title (Roland-Garros, 2021) and seven major women’s doubles titles under her belt, she seemed calm, cool, and confident, handily overpowering the more petite (5’ 3”!) Paolini.
That opening 30 minutes clearly lit a fire: Returning to the grass after a short break, Paolini, gunning to become the first Italian Wimbledon singles champion, played a scorcher of a second set. The seventh seed—who also played in this year’s French Open final, where she lost to Iga Swiatek—completely reset the match, playing with far more control and seizing on Krejčíková’s lapse in focus. A crowd favorite throughout the tournament for her powerful forehand, her dominance at the set, and her effervescent personality, she finally gave the crowd a reason to get involved.