Barbora Krejcikova: Tennis amphibian in singles and doubles

Barbora Krejčíková is a unique tennis player who can handle a demanding tournament in singles and doubles and is at the top of the rankings in both categories. For a long time she was even the world number one in doubles, now she is slowly knocking on the top step in singles.

Barbora Krejcikova was born on 18 December 1995 in Brno. She spent her youth in nearby Ivančice, where she also graduated from the Jan Blahoslav General Gymnasium. From an early age she played for the local tennis club Slovan Ivančice, where she also returned after her engagements in Prostějov and Přerov.

She gained success from her junior age

The Moravian tennis player participated in her first ITF tournament in the summer of 2010. A year later, she enjoyed her first doubles title at this level when she and Aneta Dvořáková dominated the tournament in Osijek.

Krejčíková was already making a name for herself at the world level in the youth. She holds three junior Grand Slam titles, all of which she won with her current partner Kateryna Siniakova. Her highest ranking in the junior rankings was third.

Transition to the WTA circuit and dominance in doubles

After making the transition to the WTA circuit, Krejčíková reached her first final in 2014. However, she and Lucie Hradecka were no match for their final opponents, so the Brno native had to wait another year for her first WTA title. In Quebec, she and Belgium’s Ana-Sophia Mestachova defeated the Argentine-Polish pair Irigoyenova-Kaniova to claim their first triumph on the elite circuit.

In the following years, Krejcikova made her presence more and more known. First, in 2016, she advanced to her first Grand Slam doubles semifinal with Kateryna Siniakova, then a year later she reached the singles quarterfinals on the WTA circuit. At that time, Krejcikova was ranked 254th in the rankings, so just being in the quarterfinals was a great achievement for her.

The first turning point in her career was 2018. Then, after several setbacks, she finally qualified for the main part of the Grand Slam in singles, then dominated the doubles with Siniakova. The Czech pair contributed triumphs from Roland Garros and Wimbledon, which earned them the top spot in the WTA doubles rankings.

Rise in singles

Krejcikova then focused more on her singles tennis and did well. She started winning ITF tournaments and moved steadily up the rankings. Her rising form culminated at the 2020 French Open when, as the 114th player in the rankings, she advanced to the eighth round of the tournament, bumping her into the top 100 of the WTA rankings.

She began 2021 with her debut appearance in the singles final at Dubai, where she eventually fell to Muguruza. However, a brilliantly managed tournament moved her up to 38th in the rankings.

Barbora Krejcikova’s most successful tournament is undoubtedly the 2021 French Open. She entered the tournament as an unseeded player, but still went on to win the overall title after a great match. In a close final, she defeated Russia’s Pavlyuchenkova 2: 1 in sets.

In the same year Krejčíková took part in the Olympic tournament in Tokyo, which she and Siniakova dominated in doubles and won the gold medal for the Czech Republic.

So far, 2022 has been a contradictory year for Krejcikova. She moved up to second place in the WTA rankings, which is also her career high. However, she had to miss several matches due to elbow problems, which affected her performance at the French Open, where she dropped out in the first round and lost a large number of points.

Sources