Barbora Krejcikova's emotional Wimbledon tribute as Max Purcell falls painfully short of historic feat

More than two decades after her late mentors famous All England Club triumph, Barbora Krejcikova has repelled a comeback from Italian No.7 seed Jasmine Paolini to become Wimbledon singles champion. Krejcikova, the No.31 seed, prevailed 6-2 2-6 6-4 in almost two hours in a back-and-forth final.

Following in the footsteps of her late former coach Jana Novotna, who won in 1998, the 28-year-old Czech - who shocked the tennis world back in 2021 by lifting the French Open title - roared to another shock triumph on Saturday. Famously, Novotna broke down and cried on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after she blew her first chance in the 1993 final to Steffi Graf.

And in Saturday's final after two match points came and went for Krejcikova, she may have feared that she was about to slip up in a similar fashion. But on her third match point, she got it done as Paolini was left to think what could have been after losing two straight grand slam finals - as she lost to World No.1 Iga Swiatek at the French Open last month.

Novotna's pupil Krejcikova was incredibly emotional about joining her inspirational late mentor on the honours board at the All England Club, giving a heartfelt tribute to her after winning Wimbledon. "The only thing that was going through my head was that I miss Jana a lot. It was just a very emotional moment to see my name on a board right next to her," Krejcikova said.

"I think she would be proud. I think she would be really excited that I'm on the same board as she is because Wimbledon was super special for her."

After winning Wimbledon on her third attempt, Novotna took a teenage Krejcikova under her wing in 2014. But just three years later aged 49 she died of cancer before she ever had the chance to witness her protege lift her grand slam crowns. "I knocked on her door, giving her a letter, when I was 18 and it definitely changed my tennis life," an emotional Krejcikova said.

"In the period when I finished juniors, I didn't know what I should do and Jana was the one who told me I had the potential and I should turn pro. Before she passed away, she told me to go and win a slam. I achieved that in Paris in 2021, and it was unbelievable - but I never believed I would win the same trophy Jana did in 1998.

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"I don't have any words right now. It's unreal what just happened. It's definitely the best day of my tennis career, and also the best day of my life. I think nobody really believes this, that I got to the final - and nobody's going to believe I won Wimbledon.

"Two weeks ago, I had a tough match in the first round before I won 7-5 in the third set (against Veronika Kudermetova), and before that, I wasn't in good shape. So it's unbelievable. How does it happen? I've no idea." Krejcikova's triumph also means the Czech women's success story continued at Wimbledon, as she followed the unseeded Marketa Vondrousova's shock win of 12 months earlier.

Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson stunned in men's doubles final

Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson have been left devastated after falling painfully short of winning the men's doubles final after holding three championship points. And to make matters worse, a win would have created history for Purcell.

After claiming the Wimbledon men’s doubles title in 2022 alongside Matt Ebden, the 26-year-old Sydneysider was one point away from replicating that success alongside Jordan Thompson this year. A final win would have seen him become only the second Aussie to win a prestigious Wimbledon men’s doubles title with two different partners in the Open era, joining Aussie tennis great Todd Woodbridge. Woodbridge triumphed six times with compatriot Mark Woodforde and three times with Swede Jonas Bjorkman across his record-breaking career.

The Australian pair, the 15th seeds, were hot favourites after having won three titles together this season. And they were on the verge of continuing the rich tradition of Australian doubles winners at Wimbledon on Saturday evening only to have the title snatched away from them by Finland's Harri Heliovaara and England's Henry Patten.

In what will go down as one of the great doubles finals at the grass-court slam, Patten and Heliovaara prevailed in a thrilling deciding super tie-breaker 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (11-9). Not only were they the underdogs, but the Aussies blew a prime chance to seal the win when Thompson missed the simplest of volleys on match point at 8-7 which proved ultimately costly.

with AAP