Barbora Krejcikova has a habit of surprising herself.
After becoming the Wimbledon singles champion last week, she responded by saying: “It sounds crazy.”
She added: “I have no idea why (it clicked) this tournament. I had really tough draw from the very first match. I was just going match by match. I was just feeling better and getting better.
“I don't know how that happen. But, yes, I'm a winner of this edition.”
Her surprise could be explained by the expectations she’d set for herself coming into this year’s championships.
After a quarterfinal finish at Australian Open 2024, a back injury and flu virus had marred the next few months of Krejcikova’s season.
In the five months between leaving Melbourne Park and arriving at the All England Club, she’d won just three singles matches.
For this reason, she told The Sit-Down co-host Viv Christie that she was not expecting much as she began her Wimbledon campaign.
"The motivation here is obviously every single year very, very high, and I really want to do well during this tournament,” she said.
“But I'm not really setting like high goals, because also this year I was quite injured and ill, and it wasn't so far – besides the Australian Open – a good season.
PODCAST: Barbora Krejcikova on The Sit-Down
“So I just want to get the first win, and I'm going to go from there, and see how far I can go."
It turned out that was all the way to the title – her second Grand Slam singles trophy after her similarly-unexpected triumph at Roland Garros in 2021.
That breakthrough in Paris came in just her fifth Grand Slam main-draw appearance, and left her similarly stunned.
“In Czech Republic I never really felt like the player that is that talented and that good to make it and to win a Slam. So it was a big surprise,” she revealed in the same interview.
"But also on the other hand I was really working hard, during 2020 during the Covid, and I really tried to improve and finally get to the top 100.
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"And then in 2021, everything clicked, and so far this was I think my best year of my career.”
Shortly after that memorable season, in February 2022, Krejcikova peaked at world No.2.
She’s back in the top 10 after her Wimbledon triumph, and now shifts her focus to the prospect of more Olympic glory at Paris 2024.
Also during that same glittering 2021 season, Krejcikova won women’s doubles gold with fellow Czech Katerina Siniakova.
"Definitely that year was amazing with all the results that I was able to achieve alone, but also I was able to achieve it with my doubles partner,” Krejcikova told Christie.
“Winning the Olympic gold medal for Czech Republic was a huge thing, and it was very nice because we could celebrate it in the Czech house in Tokyo.
“It was just a different feeling, and different experience, to share this with different athletes from different sports.”
The Paris 2024 Olympic Tennis Event begins Saturday 27 July.
Listen to the full episode of The Sit-Down, a weekly podcast released each Monday featuring an in-depth interview with a notable tennis identity. Subscribe via The AO Show in your favourite podcast player.