Krejcikova emulates hero Novotna in three-set thriller

Czech keeps her cool to win Wimbledon after emotional final

- KIERAN JACKSON

For a player so composed, gliding through shots with such picturesque ease and guile, the emotions stayed intact for Barbora Krejcikova as she claimed her first Wimbledon crown. On court, at least. The smile was difficult to wipe off her face as she received the Venus Rosewater Dish, amid the shining light of a rare day of southwest London sunshine. It was only when on-court interviewer Annabel Croft mentioned her mentor - the late, great Jana Novotna, champion of 1998 - that the sensations shifted.

The Czechs quite like it here at SW19. Twelve months on from Marketa Vondrousova's unfancied victory against a higher-seeded opponent and a decade since Petra Kvitova's second Wimbledon title, 31st seed Krejcikova upset the formbook again as she outlasted the spirited performance of Italian Jasmine Paolini in three momentum-shifting sets, 6-2 2-6 6-4. An eighth different women's singles champion in eight years.

As Krejcikova held her arms aloft in delight following a final game of high drama and shifting sands, it was a total state of shock for the 28-year-old, older than her opponent by just 17 days. It was shock that did not dissipate in the speech afterwards.

"I can't explain what I'm feeling right now... I still can't believe it," she said. "Two weeks ago, I won 7-5 in the third set in my first round, now I'm standing here - it's unbelievable."

She took the obligatory photos, still beaming on her Centre Court lap of honour. But it was when she left the stage, and saw her name alongside Novotna's on the honours board, that the tears quickly came. Krejcikova met her native hero at the age of 18, giving her a letter at her house as she asked for advice about her future. Novotna urged her to persevere with a career at the top, a few years before her sad death from ovarian cancer in 2017.