There could be several aspects behind the glorious achievements gathered by a tennis star. It could either be a childhood dream just like Carlos Alcaraz or could be a determination to be the greatest of all time like in Novak Djokovic‘s case. However, for this year’s Wimbledon women’s singles finalist Barbora Krejcikova, it is a desire to attain glory in the name of someone who is far beyond the world of living now.

Krejcikova recently proved her potential on grass by making it to the Wimbledon 2024 final. She came back from losing the first set to triumph 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 against none other than the former champion Elena Rybakina in the semis. While her victory came out as a surprise and raised intrigue in the minds of her fans, they directly started approaching her for discussions.j

After her semi-final win, Krejcikova took part in a Q&A session with her fans on X (formerly Twitter). When asked if she wanted to continue the tradition, she replied, “We should keep this tradition going as it worked last time, right? Send me the questions. I will answer them after my practice. 🙏🏻” A fan then asked her who her biggest inspiration was, and she simply replied, “Jana Novotna.”

Krejcikova shared a special bond with Novotna, her mentor and coach from the very start of her career until her death in 2017. Having often spoken about her former coach, the Croatian player has revealed how when she was just 18, her parents took her to Novotna for advice. The two struck up a bond and a mentor-mentee relationship was born. Recent years have recorded several moments where Krejcikova said she misses Novotna a lot and believes Novotna would want her to fight for every ball.

Even after her recent semi-final win over Elena Rybakina, Krejcikova remembered her late coach in her post-match interview. “Couple of years ago I was working with Jana Novotna, she won it here in 1998. At that point she was telling me a lot of stories about her journeys here and how she was trying to win Wimbledon. I have so many beautiful memories and when I step on the court here I’m just fighting for every single ball because I’m sure that’s what she would want me to do. I miss her so much,” she said, making it clear that she is motivated to etch more wins for her mentor, who would have loved to see her shine.

When Barbora Krejcikova dedicated her Roland Garros win to her late mentor

Barbora Krejcikova is currently looking forward to earning her second grand slam title. The maiden win came back in 2021 when she defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the finals of Roland Garros. While people generally remember their team, family, or the hustles that they had to go through, the Czechian’s victory speech was different as it was all dedicated to Jana Novotna.

“It’s hard to put into words. I cannot believe I have just won a Grand Slam. I spent a lot of time with Jana before she died. Her last words to me were ‘enjoy tennis and try and win a Grand Slam’. I know she’s looking after me. All this is pretty much because she is looking after me,” Krejcikova said, just seconds before lifting the glorious Roland Garros trophy.

Barbora Krejcikova stands just one step behind from achieving greatness at Wimbledon. As she has her mentor in mind, it could surely prove to be an emotional motivation for her.