Barbora Krejcikova became a household name overnight in tennis thanks to winning the French Open 2021 women's singles title.
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Barbora Krejcikova, who became a household name overnight in tennis thanks to winning the French Open 2021 women’s singles title, is not used to the spotlight being on her. Having previously only experienced success in the doubles rank, coming into Wimbledon 2021 as a Grand Slam winner in singles feels new to her. Speaking to reporters at Wimbledon, she joked that she felt stressed out and nervous by it all. “I think you can actually see that I feel actually quite nervous,” Krejcikova told reporters during Media Day at Wimbledon.
“I cannot really put the good words together because all of this is very new and all of this is really exciting and special.
“Also it’s stressful,” she said, laughing. “I didn’t expect this to happen. Now I’m here.”
Krejcikova had a good French Open 2021. Not only did she win her maiden singles Grand Slam, she won the doubles title too. Thus, she became the first woman since Mary Pierce in 2000 to win both singles and doubles titles at Roland Garros.
Krejcikova admits people see her differently now but that she isn’t willing to put any additional pressure on herself.
“I feel that people see me differently,” Krejcikova said. “I think that they have maybe higher expectations and everything.
“But for me right now, I just feel that I shouldn’t put any pressure on myself anymore. I’ve pretty much achieved everything that I’ve always wanted.
“I’m just still enjoying that actually I was able to win a Slam in singles. That was something I always wanted. I never really said it out loud because I didn’t expect it. Also, I didn’t want to put extra pressure on myself.
“Now it happened, so I’m still enjoying that. That’s how I approach the time right now.”
It’s worth noting that Barbora Krejcikova doesn’t have much experience playing on grass. The unique demands of the natural surface take time and plenty of match practice to get used to.
Krejcikova is admittedly more comfortable on clay, the surface she learnt her craft on. But she is going to learn on the job and try to have fun in her maiden appearance in the main draw of Wimbledon.
“About this tournament and playing for the first time, not really having experience, switching fast from clay to grass, all of this is new, all of this is different,” Krejcikova said.
“Playing on clay, I grew up on clay, so I like to play on clay. I didn’t really have that many matches playing on grass. I’ve never played here the main draw. Everything is new.
“But I just try to have fun. I just try to enjoy it, I just try to improve and I just feel that so far I really don’t know what to do on grass yet. I just feel that I don’t really know how to use my shots and I still have some time to find out.”
Additionally, Krejcokova has received advice from the Czech greats like Martina Navratilova and Jan Kodes before the tournament. And her main motto going into the tournament is simple: fight.
“For sure when I’m going to go there on court, maybe things will not go well for me. I’m just going to go and fight. I know how to fight. I’m ready for it.
“For me, doesn’t really matter if I’m going to play well or I’m not going to play well. The most important thing is to improve as a tennis player but also as a person.
“I know if I’m going to fight and do everything that I can, especially mentally, it’s going to be victory for me.”
