Tennis - Wimbledon 2024 - Barbora Krejcikova, Wimbledon champion : "I don't know how that happened"
Un an après le sacre de Marketa Vondrousova à Wimbledon, sa compatriote Barbora Krejcikova lui a emboîté le pas en glanant son deuxième Grand Chelem après Roland-Garros en 2021. La Tchèque a brillé en écartant en finale ce samedi l'Italienne Jasmine Paolini. Une délivrance pour cette ancienne n°2 mondiale, qui revit après des jours difficiles en Majeur. De retour au top, Krejcikova a ainsi inscrit son nom au palmarès d'un tournoi où figure également Jana Novotna, son ancienne coach, décédée en 2017.
Vidéo : @Wimbledon
Vidéo : @Wimbledon
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SportTranscription
00:00Thank you. Thank you.
00:09Good afternoon.
00:10Welcome to the press conference for Barbara Krajicova.
00:13Please raise your hand.
00:14State your name and organization when asking your question.
00:16Barbara Krajicova, Wimbledon Ladies Singles Champion.
00:22How does that sound?
00:24Crazy.
00:26No, it sounds I mean, it sounds crazy, but
00:29yeah, I'm super happy.
00:30I'm super happy that I won today and that
00:35yeah, that I was able to lift up the trophy.
00:38And yeah, it's a great feeling.
00:45Congratulations, Barbara.
00:46Obviously, since you won three years ago,
00:48you knew you were capable of this.
00:50I wonder in the 13 Grand Slams you've competed since,
00:54did something feel different about this one?
00:56Like, why now do you think?
00:57Why this tournament?
00:58I have no idea why this tournament.
01:00I mean, I had a really tough draw from the very first match
01:05and I was just going match by match
01:08and I was just feeling better and getting better.
01:12And yeah, I mean, here I am.
01:14I don't know how that happened.
01:16But yes, I'm a winner of this edition.
01:21Hey Barbara, I'm Tamal from Sporta Alec
01:23and congratulations on your achievement.
01:25I wonder how much importance does your experience in finals,
01:30because you obviously played a lot of doubles finals.
01:32You won almost all your finals so far.
01:35How important it is in a singles match,
01:37in a singles final?
01:38How different it is and how important is it?
01:40Well, I think it definitely helped me.
01:44It's an advantage that I was able to play a lot of finals
01:48in doubles and in mixed doubles
01:51and that I was there with my partner
01:54to share all the emotions
01:58that are going through you during the match.
02:03And it definitely helped me also for my singles matches.
02:09Elena?
02:10Hi Barbara, we saw you looking at your name
02:14and Jana's name on the honours board
02:16and obviously it was a very emotional moment for you.
02:18I just wonder what did that mean to you?
02:20What was going through your head?
02:23Well, the only thing that was going through my head
02:26was that I miss Jana a lot.
02:29And it was just a very emotional moment
02:33to see me on a board right next to her.
02:38I think she would be proud.
02:40I think she would be really excited
02:43that I'm on the same board as she is
02:46because Wim Werner was super special for her.
02:49Okay.
02:50Well, congrats.
02:51How long did you work together with Milvotna
02:54and what was in the letter you gave to her?
02:59We started beginning of 2014
03:05until she passed away.
03:11I'm not exactly sure what I wrote in the letter right now
03:15but I wrote something that I'm playing tennis,
03:20that I'm 18, I just finished juniors
03:23and that I don't know what to do right now.
03:28So if she could look at me and maybe help me, guide me,
03:33tell me which direction should I go.
03:39I'm curious, this may be too sensitive,
03:44but I'm curious, you talk about missing her.
03:48Do you ever have conversations with her in your head?
03:52I'm dreaming about her a lot.
03:54Excuse me?
03:55I'm dreaming about her in the dream, yeah.
03:58What's happening in those dreams?
04:03Well, I think it's very personal
04:05so I would just keep it like this.
04:08But yes, I'm dreaming about her and we're talking in the dreams.
04:14Congratulations, Barbara.
04:16The first set seemed to flow beautifully for you,
04:19like you weren't thinking.
04:20The second set was more of a challenge.
04:23Were you kind of a little bit set back
04:27by the way Jasmin came back at you
04:29or were you expecting dips in the game?
04:33Well, I mean, yes, I started well.
04:36I mean, for me it was good.
04:38It was a good start to the match.
04:41I was happy with the first set.
04:43I mean, then in the second, I think she improved.
04:46I think she kind of like all the stress and everything
04:50it just went away and she started to be more smooth
04:53and started to play better.
04:55And I mean, I still had my chances there,
04:57but I didn't convert them.
04:59And yeah, I mean, then the set was tough to come back.
05:04And then, I mean, in the third we were holding the serves
05:08and I mean, I was just fighting for every single ball
05:12and I believe that I'm going to get the opportunity
05:16to break it and I did.
05:19And yeah, I mean, then the rest is history.
05:25First of all, congratulations.
05:29What went through your mind
05:31when you were serving for the match 5-4?
05:34There was a 16 points game.
05:37And before that, you had lost only one point
05:41in four serves.
05:43But then 30-0 for you, double fault.
05:47Was she very emotional?
05:50I mean, was it different from other situations?
05:53I mean, I expect it's going to be difficult to serve it out,
05:56but I believe that I can do it.
05:58I mean, I started the game well.
06:00Jasmine, she was returning quite well.
06:03She put every single ball in
06:05and we were fighting for the balls.
06:09I mean, the only thing I was telling myself,
06:12just, you know, try to make first serve
06:14and try to play your shot and just be brave.
06:17And, you know, if it's not going to work out,
06:19it's going to be 5-4 and the match is...
06:21It's not over, the match is going to continue.
06:24So I was quite prepared for both options.
06:27Howard?
06:29Hi, Barbara.
06:31If you're willing to share a little more
06:34about the start of your relationship with Jana,
06:39what happened after the letter?
06:42How long was it until the two of you were in more regular touch
06:47and she began helping you?
06:49Well, I think after the letter,
06:51it was maybe like a week before we actually went to hit.
06:55And pretty much after that hit,
06:58we were basically in touch a lot.
07:01And then I think...
07:04I don't know how long it took, but it was quite quick
07:07when she started to, like, helping me, working with me
07:11and giving her time to me.
07:18Congratulations.
07:19Thank you.
07:20Does winning a second major title sort of change anything for you
07:23in the way you view yourself as a player?
07:26Do you think, you know,
07:28expectations will change for you from yourself going forward?
07:31No.
07:32No, I mean, I still feel the same.
07:35I mean, it's great.
07:37It's great that I'm a two-time major champion.
07:40It's something unbelievable.
07:42But, I mean, on the other hand,
07:46yeah, I mean, I'm still the same person.
07:49I still love tennis very much
07:51and I still want to continue playing tennis well
07:54and fight for other tournaments.
07:58I apologise for asking another question about Jana,
08:02but this is such a special story that touches so many people.
08:06My question is, now after winning this incredible championship,
08:11if you could say something to Jana,
08:15what would you say to her?
08:19Well, I think...
08:23I think I would turn it around.
08:25I would like to hear what she would tell me.
08:30That's, I guess...
08:32What do you think she might say to you on this day?
08:35I think she would tell me that she's very proud about me
08:39and that she's super happy and that...
08:47I don't know.
08:49That's maybe something else. I don't know.
08:53I want to congratulate you on your achievement.
08:56You're the first Czech player to win,
08:58to slam on two different surfaces.
09:00So my question is, what do you expect when you come home?
09:03A big party, a big celebration.
09:05What do you expect?
09:07I'm not... I don't know.
09:09I'm not really expecting anything.
09:11Nobody?
09:13No, well, I don't think that,
09:15but I don't know.
09:17I was never in this situation.
09:19I was never in a situation like this,
09:21so I don't know what to expect.
09:23What happened after the French Open?
09:25Nothing special? Nothing big?
09:35It's a long time ago.
09:40Barbora, people around who follow sports
09:43will think of you as a two-time major champion now,
09:46but you're actually a 12-time major champion
09:48with all your doubles titles.
09:50Do you feel like there should be such a gap
09:52in terms of how people in general
09:54look at doubles titles versus singles titles?
09:56How do you feel inside?
09:58How different is it to win singles versus doubles?
10:02Well, it is different.
10:05I mean, it's definitely different,
10:07especially in, I guess,
10:11in media and fans' views.
10:14I think that's different.
10:16I mean, for me, winning a slam
10:19in any category is an extremely great achievement.
10:26And do you wish you were different?
10:28Or are you at peace with the fact that
10:30singles is here and doubles is more low?
10:32Well, I think it should be more equal,
10:34but there's not much I can do about it.
10:40Barbora, a similar question.
10:43You have said in the past
10:45that you haven't received enough credit
10:47from the media,
10:49also being a grand slam singles champion.
10:51Do you think this is going to be kind of different now
10:53that you are a Wimbledon champion?
10:55I don't know.
10:57What do you think is the reason?
11:00I don't know.
11:06When did Wimbledon become a dream of yours,
11:10and how does the reality match the dream?
11:17It's tough to say.
11:19I mean, because I don't really think that...
11:22I mean, winning any slam is great,
11:26and winning here at Wimbledon is huge for me.
11:31But I wouldn't really say that it was kind of like my dreams,
11:34like, you know, when I was very little.
11:36Like, I have a little notebook that I wrote,
11:39I think, when I was like 12.
11:41And I don't know, maybe like three, four months ago,
11:44I was listing, like, through that notebook.
11:50And I had there that in the future,
11:55like back then when I was 12,
11:57I wrote that in the future I would like to win the French Open.
12:01So it was quite like a big dream for me to win the French Open.
12:05And to be honest, maybe things shifted a little bit
12:09when I actually met Jana,
12:11and when she was telling me all the stories about Wimbledon
12:14and about the grass,
12:16and how difficult it was for her to win the title,
12:19and how emotional she was when she actually made it.
12:23And I think since then I started to see the Wimbledon
12:27like the biggest tournament in the world.
12:34And how does the reality match what you thought?
12:37It's great.
12:39It's great. It feels so good.
12:42OK, one more English question here.
12:45Ashley from Quantichop.
12:47Congratulations.
12:49You said on court that this is the best day of your life.
12:52Do you think you're playing the best tennis of your career?
12:58I think I do, yes.
13:00I think I did, because today was very difficult
13:03and I really had to dig deep in every aspect,
13:07also in tennis, but also mentally.
13:09And I'm extremely proud that I was able to do that,
13:15to hold everything together
13:18and to just win the finals.
13:24Great. We're going to switch to Czech questions now.
13:27Thank you very much. Thank you for coming.
13:29You can leave quietly, please.