Barbora Krejcikova was inspired by the memory of her mentor Jana Novotna as she battled back to beat former champion Elena Rybakina and reach her first Wimbledon singles final.
Krejcikova, winner of the French Open in 2021 but never previously beyond the fourth round here, claimed a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory on Centre Court to set up a surprise final against Jasmine Paolini.
She will now hope to follow in the footsteps of her fellow Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who became the first unseeded winner of the women’s singles here 12 months ago, while Rybakina’s defeat guarantees an eighth different champion in eight years.
Novotna famously cried on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after losing the 1993 final against Steffi Graf from a winning position before finally lifting the trophy five years later.
She took a teenage Krejcikova under her wing but died of cancer in 2017 aged only 49.
Krejcikova became emotional when taking about Novotna in her post-match interview, saying: “I’m thinking about Jana a lot. I have so many beautiful memories and, when I step on the court here, I’m just fighting for every single ball because that’s what I think she would want me to do.
“We talked about her matches here. It’s been some while so I can’t really tell you what it was about. But we definitely did. I hope she would be proud.”
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Krejcikova would have taken heart from beating Rybakina in both their previous meetings but they were on hard courts and initially it looked like the Kazakh, champion two years ago and winner of 19 of her 21 matches at Wimbledon before this one, would continue her grass-court dominance.
After the emotional drama of the first semi-final, which the crowd lived with both players, it was no surprise that Rybakina and Krejcikova walked out to a mostly empty stadium as fans took a break.
The flat atmosphere was reflected on the court, with the contest distinctly lacking in any rhythm.
Much of that was due to the ice-cold demeanour and clinical striking from Rybakina, whose power was simply too much for Krejcikova to cope with in the opening set.
The fourth seed quickly opened up a 4-0 lead but she became more error prone thereafter and there were signs before she clinched the set that the tide could turn.
Rybakina had break points in each of Krejcikova’s opening three service games but the 28-year-old Czech clung on and slowly began to impose her varied game, honed in a hugely successful doubles career, on her opponent.
Krejcikova clenched her fist and roared when she broke Rybakina to lead 4-2 before surviving a wobble serving for the set, taking her sixth chance after being up 40-0 then twice double-faulting.
Rybakina regrouped at the beginning of the decider but Krejcikova’s confidence was high now and she struck in the seventh game before serving out one of the biggest victories of her life to love.
Rybakina, who had been a heavy title favourite, was philosophical afterwards, saying: “It was a very close match. Of course, a pity to lose. I think Barbora played really well. I had some chances but, anyway, I think it’s a positive tournament for me.
“I’ve been playing pretty well the last four matches, so I’m happy with the level I am now and also how I felt physically on the court. In the last few months I was struggling a little bit.”