Barbora Krejčíková (Czech pronunciation:[ˈbarboraˈkrɛjtʃiːkovaː]; born 18 December 1995) is a Czech professionaltennis player. She has beenranked as high as world No. 2 in singles andworld No. 1 in doubles by theWTA. Krejčíková has won eight singles, 20 doubles, and three mixed doubles titles at theWTA Tour level. She is known for her aggressive playing style and her smooth, powerfulgroundstrokes.[3]
In October 2020, Krejčíková reached the fourth round of theFrench Open tournament, which helped her attain a new best year-end ranking of No. 65 in November.[9]
In March 2021, Krejčíková made progress to her first singles final of aWTA 1000 tournament at theDubai Championships, eventually losing toGarbiñe Muguruza. As a result, she climbed to a new career-high of No. 38 in the singles rankings.
In May 2021, Krejčíková won her first WTA singles title atStrasbourg the day before the2021 French Open started. Krejčíková went on to win the subsequentFrench Open, her first Grand Slam title in singles. As a result, she climbed to a career-high of No. 15 in the singles rankings. She won her thirdWTA singles title atPrague, and reached a career high singles ranking of world No. 2 in February 2022 after reaching the final atSydney and the quarterfinals of the2022 Australian Open. After injuries, Krejčíková would win two further singles titles in 2022: atTallinn, and atOstrava.
In 2023, Krejčíková won her maidenWTA 1000 title in singles at the2023 Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating four top-10 opponents, including the world Nos 1, 2, and 3.
Krejcikova has won three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, winning the Australian Open for three years in a row from 2019 to 2021. With American partnerRajeev Ram, she won the mixed-doubles competition of the2019 Australian Open. She succeeded indefending her title the following year alongsideNikola Mektić, and in2021 again, with Rajeev Ram.
Additionally, Krejčíková has won six more doubles titles on theWTA Tour, oneWTA 125K series doubles title, as well as 19 doubles titles on theITF Circuit.
On 22 October 2018, Krejčíková reached No. 1 in the doubles rankings, jointly with Kateřina Siniaková. They were the fifth and sixth Czechs ranked No. 1 since 1975, and the 14th pair that attained the No. 1 together.
In August 2021, Krejcikova and Siniaková won the gold medal at theTokyo Olympics in the women's doubles.
In November 2021, Krejčíková won the2021 WTA Finals doubles title with Siniaková, their first title at the year-end championships.
Krejčíková was ranked junior world No. 3 in October 2013.[12] In that year, she won the girls' doubles titles at theFrench Open,Wimbledon and theUS Open with fellow CzechKateřina Siniaková. AlongsideOleksandra Korashvili from Ukraine, she also reached the final of theAustralian Open, falling one match shy of completing the calendar-year Grand Slam. The same year, she also won the European Junior Championship U18 in Klosters, Switzerland in singles and doubles.[13]
Krejčíková made her WTA Tour debut at the2014 Gastein Ladies, where she and partnerKateřina Siniaková lost in the first round. In singles, her debut was at theTournoi de Québec, where she qualified for the main draw and reached the second round, losing toLucie Hradecká. In doubles there, she reached the semifinals. At theLuxembourg Open, she reached her first WTA Tour doubles final pairing Hradecká. However, they were defeated byTimea Bacsinszky andKristina Barrois.In 2015, Krejčíková only played one WTA Tour main-draw singles event, at theTournoi de Québec, where she was defeated in the first round. At all four Grand Slam championships, she failed to qualify for the main draw, losing in the first or second rounds of them all.
In singles, Krejčíková mainly played on theITF Circuit. However, she took part in a few WTA tournaments but lost in qualifying or in early rounds of the main draw. She lost in the first round of qualifying at theQatar Open,Australian Open, andWimbledon.
Krejčíková started the year well in doubles, reaching the semifinals at theAuckland Open.[14] Next, she played for the first time at theAustralian Open, reaching the second round.[15] In February, she played her first Premier final in doubles at theSt. Petersburg Trophy.[16] At theQatar Open, she made her first appearance at a Premier 5/Premier Mandatory tournament, where she lost in the second round.[17] Her breakthrough came at theFrench Open, where she, with her doubles partner Siniaková, reached the semifinals, losing toElena Vesnina andEkaterina Makarova.[18] This result ranked her in the top 50 for the first time, at No. 34. AtWimbledon, she lost in the first round. At theUS Open, she reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal alongside Siniaková, but lost there toMartina Hingis andCoCo Vandeweghe. She entered the top 30 in rankings for the first time in her career.[19]
In the first few months, Krejčíková had success in singles on the ITF Circuit, but didn't do well on the WTA Tour. She failed in qualification atTaiwan Open andMorocco Open, and failed to reach the main-draw ofAustralian Open again, losing in the second round of qualification. Then suddenly, in late May, she reached her first WTA singles final at theNurember Cup, where she played from the qualifying rounds. She lost the final to top seedKiki Bertens.[20] This result brought her back to the top 150, for the first time since September 2015. In the grass-court season, she only played in qualifying forWimbledon, but missed the chance to play in the main-draw. InBåstad, she played in the quarterfinal, where she lost toCaroline Garcia.[21] For the first time, she had the chance to play in the main draw of theRogers Cup, but lost in the second round of qualification. AtUS Open, she also didn't have success, losing in the first round of qualification.
Also in doubles, the first few months were not really successful for Krejčíková, reaching only the second round at theAustralian Open, and first round ofSydney International,Taiwan Open andHungarian Open. During the clay-court season, things get better. AtMorocco Open, she reached her first semifinal in 2017. AtMadrid Open, she lost in the first round, but at theItalian Open she reached her first Premier 5/Premier Mandatory quarterfinal. At theFrench Open, partnering withChan Hao-ching, lost toLucie Hradecká-Kateřina Siniaková in the third round. In the grass season, she only played atWimbledon, where she lost in the first round. AtSwedish Open, she reached the doubles final, but missed the chance to win the title. AtRogers Cup, she lost in the second round of the doubles, while at theUS Open, she reached the third round in doubles. In October, she played the semifinal doubles at theKremlin Cup.
Together with Siniaková, she won the doubles titles at the 2018French Open andWimbledon.
Unlike previous seasons, Krejčíková now had the chance to play, at least, in singles qualifying rounds at more Premier 5/Premier Mandatory events than before. Unfortunately, she failed to qualify for the main draw atDoha,Indian Wells,Miami andMadrid, but finally qualified at theRogers Cup, where she lost in the first round. At the majors, she also made a little bit of progress, as she finally made it to the main draw of theFrench Open after qualifying.[22] In the first round of the main draw, she faced sixth seedKarolína Plíšková but lost.[23] At theUS Open, once again, she failed to qualify.
This year was by far the most successful doubles season for Krejčíková to this point. She started well, reaching the final at theShenzhen Open, where she and Siniaková lost to Romanian combinationIrina-Camelia Begu/Simona Halep.[24] At theAustralian Open, they reached the third round, Krejcikova's best result at that tournament.[15] In February, she reached semifinals at the Premier 5Qatar Open, again with Siniaková. At theIndian Wells Open, they reached the second round. And at theMiami Open, she played her first Premier 5/Mandatory final, but missed the chance to win the title. The clay-court season didn't start so well, reaching only second round of theMadrid Open, and first round of theItalian Open. However, after that, she won her first major doubles title at theFrench Open. Together with Siniaková, she defeated Japanese pairEri Hozumi/Makoto Ninomiya in the final.[25] The grass-court season was successful for Krejčíková, reaching the semifinal at theBirmingham Classic, and winning the title at theWimbledon. At Wimbledon, again with Siniaková, they defeatedKvěta Peschke andNicole Melichar in the final, to win a rare Roland Garros/Wimbledon double.[26] After Wimbledon, Krejčíková entered the top 5 in doubles for the first time in her career. TheUS Open Series was also quite successful. Things started slowly at theRogers Cup, losing in the second round, but atCincinnati, she and Siniakova reached the quarterfinals. At theUS Open, they were close to reaching a third successive Grand Slam final, but were stopped in the semifinal byAshleigh Barty andCoCo Vandeweghe. On 22 October, Krejčíková, together with her partner Siniaková, becameworld No. 1 doubles player.[27] For the first time in her career, Krejčíková had the opportunity to play at theWTA Finals, where she had success. In the first round, Siniaková and Krejčíková defeated Peschke/Melichar, then in semifinals, they defeatedAndrea Sestini Hlaváčková/Barbora Strýcová, but unfortunately lost in the final againstTímea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic. Both, Krejčíková and Siniaková finished the year as world-number-1 doubles players.[28] At the end of 2018, they received the award for the 2018 Doubles Team.[29]
Krejčíková won her first Grand Slam tournament mixed doubles title at theAustralian Open, playing withRajeev Ram and defeating wildcard entrantsAstra Sharma andJohn-Patrick Smith in the final.[30][31][32] She also reached the quarterfinals in thewomen's doubles, and with that result she completed the set of quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slam tournaments.[15]
At theRogers Cup, she won her first Premier 5/Premier Mandatory doubles title. Together with Siniaková, they defeatedAnna-Lena Grönefeld andDemi Schuurs in the final, in straight sets.[37] AtCincinnati, she reached the quarterfinal. Krejčíková planned to play in doubles, but during her second-round match in qualifying againstAsia Muhammad, Krejčíková was forced to retire.[citation needed] In October, she and Siniakova won the title at theLinz Open.[38] For the second year in row, Krejčíková played at theWTA Finals, again with Siniaková, but they did not pass the group stage, winning only one match.[citation needed]
In theCOVID-affected 2020 season, Krejčíková finally made progress in singles. For the first time in her career, she qualified for the main draw of theAustralian Open, beatingKaia Kanepi before losing toEkaterina Alexandrova in the second round. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Krejčíková took part in Czech tennis tournaments against players likePetra Kvitová andKarolína Muchová. When the tour restarted in August, Krejčíková impressed in a three-set loss toSimona Halep. She returned to the ITF circuit afterwards, where she had a string of disappointing results. This proved to be a turning point, as she later said she was determined to enjoy her singles tennis more.[39] At theFrench Open in September, Krejčíková had a massive breakthrough, reaching the round of 16. There, she lost to qualifierNadia Podoroska.[40] She followed with good performances inOstrava andLinz, where she lost toVictoria Azarenka in the round of 16 andAryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, respectively. Krejčíková ended the year ranked world No. 65 in singles.
Krejčíková's doubles season started well with a title inShenzhen over home teamDuan Yingying andZheng Saisai. After that, she played atAustralian Open, where she reached the semifinals. In themixed doubles, she won a second consecutive title, this time withNikola Mektić.[41] InDubai, together with Zheng Saisai, Krejčíková lost in the final toHsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strýcová. InDoha, again with Siniaková, she reached the semifinals before being defeated by Hsieh and Strýcová once again. After the COVID shutdown, Krejčíková returned to play doubles in August, and reached another semifinal at thePrague Open. She returned with Siniaková to theFrench Open, where they lost in the semifinals to the defending championsTímea Babos andKristina Mladenovic.[42]Krejčíková's 2020 season ended inOstrava, where she and Siniaková made it to the semifinals before Krejčíková had to withdraw.
2021: French Open titles, Olympic gold, WTA Finals champion
In the Middle East swing, Krejčíková's most notable result in doubles was making theDoha semifinals with Siniaková, before losing toJeļena Ostapenko andMonica Niculescu.[citation needed] In singles, Krejčíková progressed to the final following wins over Ostapenko,Svetlana Kuznetsova, and 16th seedMaria Sakkari. There, she lost toGarbiñe Muguruza.[47] This result entered Krejčíková into the top 40 in singles for the first time. At theMadrid Open, Krejčíková and Siniaková won the women's doubles title, beatingDemi Schuurs andGaby Dabrowski in the final for their biggest title since Wimbledon in 2018.[48] AtStrasbourg, Krejčíková won her maiden singles title, beatingSorana Cîrstea in the final.[49]
At theFrench Open, Krejčíková defeatedKristýna Plíšková,[50] Ekaterina Alexandrova[51] andElina Svitolina to reach the fourth round.[52] She then defeated 2018 finalistSloane Stephens, 6–2, 6–0 to reach her first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal.[53] She there defeatedCoco Gauff in straight sets[54] to set up a semifinal withMaria Sakkari, which she won in three sets, saving a match point en route. In her first ever Grand Slam final in only her fifth main draw singles appearance,[55] Krejčíková beatAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets to claim her first Grand Slam singles title.[56] As a result, she entered the top 15 in singles for the first time in her career.[57] Indoubles, Krejčíková and Siniaková beat the Plíšková sisters in an all Czech quarterfinal[58] andBernarda Pera andMagda Linette in the semifinals. They then defeatedBethanie Mattek-Sands andIga Świątek in straight sets to claim their second French Open title,[59][60] and the first singles/doubles sweep in Paris sinceMary Pierce in2000.[61] As a result, Krejčíková & Siniaková reclaimed the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles positions, respectively.[62]
Krejčíková then made her main-draw singles debut at the2021 US Open. She began with straight-sets wins overAstra Sharma,[70]Christina McHale,[71]Kamilla Rakhimova[72] and ninth seed Garbiñe Muguruza to reach her maiden US Open quarterfinal.[73] With an injury sustained in the Murguruza match, Krejčíková was beaten in the quarterfinals byAryna Sabalenka.[74] On 20 September, Krejčíková reached a new-career high ranking of world No. 5.,[75] which was surpassed on 1 November when she reached world No. 3.[citation needed]
Krejčíková represented the Czech Republic in the inaugural2020–21 Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Prague in November. However, the long season appeared to catch up with her as she lost both of her singles rubbers toAngelique Kerber of Germany and Bencic of Switzerland, and did not play the doubles.[citation needed] One week later, Krejčíková played in theWTA Finals in singles for the first time in her career, and was the first player to do so in both singles and doubles sinceKarolína Plíšková in 2016.[citation needed] Seeded second, she lost to Muguruza, Plíšková, andAnett Kontaveit during the round robin stage.[76]However, she and Siniaková went unbeaten in thedoubles tournament, going undefeated to take the title. With the win over Mertens and Hsieh in the final,[77] Siniaková rose to become the world No. 1, with Krejčíková as No. 2. Krejčíková was awarded the ‘Most Improved Player’ award in the official WTA year-end awards as well as ‘Doubles Team of the Year’ with Siniaková.[78]
She ended her breakthrough season as world No. 5 in singles, and No. 2 in doubles.[citation needed]
Krejčíková began the season as the third seed at theSydney International, aWTA 500 event. She defeatedJaqueline Cristian,Caroline Garcia, and fourth seedAnett Kontaveit en route to the final; her match against Kontaveit was particularly remarkable, as she came back from being bagelled in the first set to winning a final-set tiebreak 14–12, saving 7 match points. She lost in the final via another final-set tiebreak to fifth seedPaula Badosa.
Krejčíková followed up her performance in Australia with two early exits, falling toDayana Yastremska in the second round ofDubai andJeļena Ostapenko in the third round ofDoha where she was forced to withdraw during a doubles match with Siniaková after injuring her right arm. Despite this setback she reached No. 2 in the world in the WTA singles rankings on 28 February 2022.
Originally scheduled to participate inIndian Wells as the top seed, she pulled out due to the ongoing arm injury that flared up just before the start of the tournament. This injury also kept Krejčíková out of theMiami Open, and forced her to withdraw from all four clay-court tournaments she had signed up for inStuttgart,Madrid,Rome, andStrasbourg, the latter at which she was the defending champion.
Having not played a match in three months due to an elbow injury, Krejčíková entered the French Opensingles draw as the second seed and defending champion. She was upset in the first round by French wildcardDiane Parry; it was only the third time in the history of the event that the defending champion lost in the first round, afterAnastasia Myskina in 2005 andJeļena Ostapenko in 2018.[81] She was later forced to withdraw from thedoubles draw as well after testing positive for COVID-19.[82][83]
Krejcikova's grass court season did not start well with an early loss to Marta Kostyuk at the2022 Eastbourne International in singles and winning just one match in doubles where she partneredEna Shibahara. At the2022 Wimbledon Championships, she reached the third round in singles before losing toAjla Tomljanović in three sets.[84] At the same tournament in doubles, she reached the final with her partner Siniakova and won the title for a second time defeating top seedsElise Mertens andZhang Shuai in straight sets.[85]
At theUS Open Krejcikova once again lost early in singles, going out in second round toAleksandra Krunić. However, she was more successful in doubles, where she won the title with Siniaková, coming back from a set down to defeat Taylor Townsend and Caty McNally in the final. With this win Krejcikova and Siniaková completed the Career Golden Slam, and took their third women's doubles Grand Slam title of the year, remaining undefeated in slams in 2022.[86][87]
Krejcikova returned to the singles court at the inaugural2022 Tallinn Open and got first ever wins against her first four opponents: Ajla Tomljanović, Marta Kostyuk, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Belinda Bencic, four players she had never beaten before.[88]In the final, Krejcikova defeated home favouriteAnett Kontaveit in straight sets to win the title.[89] A week later, Krejcikova won the title at the2022 Ostrava Open, her second title in her home country and fifth career singles title. She defeated world number 1,Iga Świątek in three sets, giving Swiatek her first defeat in a final in three years.[90] Krejcikova crashed out of the final WTA1000 of the year, the2022 Guadalajara Open Akron in the first round. She and Siniaková made the semifinals in the doubles, before losing a match tiebreak to Haddad Maia and Danilina. The pair then played the2022 WTA Finals – Doubles in Fort Worth, Texas. The Czechs went undefeated in the round robin stage but were defeated in the final byVeronika Kudermetova andElise Mertens.[91]
2023: Australian doubles title, Dubai singles title
At theAustralian Open singles tournament, Krejčíková made it to the fourth round but lost toJessica Pegula. In theAustralian Open doubles she reunited withKaterina Siniaková where they won their 24th consecutive grand slam match and their seventh doubles grand slam title and for the first time, defended a Major title.[92] Krejčíková's 11th Grand Slam title.
She won her first tournament of the season at the2023 Dubai Tennis Championships defeating five seeds in a row and four top-10 players: 7th seedDaria Kasatkina, 12th seedPetra Kvitová, world No. 2Aryna Sabalenka, handing her her first defeat of 2023 and ending a 13-match winning streak,[93] world No. 3Jessica Pegula, for her tenth top-10 win of her career,[94][95] and finally world No. 1Iga Świątek, also snapping her six match winning streak. This was Krejčíková's maiden WTA 1000 title in singles; with the win, she moved up 14 positions to No. 16, and became just the fifth woman to defeat the world No. 1, 2, and 3 in a single tournament and the only one to do it in three consecutive days.[96][97]
As the top seed at the2023 Birmingham Classic, she reached the semifinals defeating compatriotLinda Fruhvirtová.[98] As a result, she returned to the top 10 in the singles rankings.[99] Next she defeatedZhu Lin to reach the final.[100] In the final, Krejčíková lost to Jeļena Ostapenko.[101] In doubles she won the title partneringMarta Kostyuk.[102]
Krejčíková was forced to withdraw from the2023 Wimbledon Championships after injuring her ankle and this injury also meant she had to withdraw from the doubles, despite being defending champion.[103]
She also announced that she was splitting with long-term coach Ales Kartous. Krejcikova has been working withPavel Motl, a friend and former collegiate player, but still did not have a full-time replacement coach as of the end of the 2023 season.[104]
After a difficult return from injury where she suffered several early losses, Krejčíková won her 7th career singles title, theSan Diego Open, defeatingSofia Kenin in the final. Alongside Kateřina Siniaková she took the doubles title as well, defeatingDanielle Collins andCoCo Vandeweghe in the final.[105] As a result, she returned to the top 10 in the rankings on 18 September 2023.[106]
Krejčíková competed in theWTA Elite Trophy as the top seed but went out in the group stage. In November, she represented the Czech Republic in the2023 Billie Jean King Cup finals in Seville, winning one singles and two doubles matches alongside Siniakova.The same month, in a shock announcement, Krejčíková and Siniaková split, a move initiated by Siniaková who felt other teams know them too well.[107][108]
Krejčíková ended the year ranked No. 10 in singles and No. 13 in doubles.[109]
Krejcikova made the quarterfinals of theAbu Dhabi Open before losing toLiudmila Samsonova.[116] She missed theQatar Open as well as the Indian Wells/Miami Sunshine Double due to a back injury.[117] Krejcikova returned to the tour at thePorsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after more than two months away but lost in the first round of the singles toVeronika Kudermetova.[118] At the same event she reached the semifinals of thedoubles alongside Laura Siegemund but the pair withdrew from the competition after Siegemund picked up an injury.[119]
Krejcikova on serve in Strasbourg in 2024.
In May, Krejcikova and Siegemund were finalists at the WTA 1000 event, theMadrid Open, where they lost to Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo in the final in straight sets.[120]However, she once again lost in the first round of singles, toJaqueline Cristian. Krejcikova's losing streak continued, with losses inStrasbourg toLiudmila Samsonova[121] and at theFrench Open toViktorija Golubic.[122] In doubles, Krejcikova got her first wins at Roland Garros since taking the singles and doubles titles in 2021, reaching the third round of the women's doubles with Siegemund and getting one win in the mixed doubles withJoran Vliegen before withdrawing.[citation needed]
The grass-court season saw Krejcikova finally break her losing streak at theBirmingham Classic with two wins over Daria Saville[123] and Harriet Dart,[124] before losing to seventh seedAnastasia Potapova.[125] However, the next week she lost in the first round of theEastbourne International to Leylah Fernandez in three sets.[126]
Seeded 31st, she reached her second Grand Slam tournament singles final atWimbledon, defeating Veronika Kudermetova,[127] qualifierKatie Volynets[128] andJéssica Bouzas Maneiro[129] in the first three rounds. Krejčíková then overcame 11th seedDanielle Collins in the fourth round[130] and 13th seedJeļena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals[131][132] before defeating fourth seed and former Wimbledon championElena Rybakina in the semifinals.[133][134] Krejcikova defeated seventh seedJasmine Paolini in the final to win her second Major singles title.[135][136]She was the second-lowest-ranked player to win the Wimbledon singles title since the WTA rankings began in 1975.[137] As a result, she returned to the top 10 in the singles rankings on 15 July 2024.[138]
At the season-endingWTA Finals, Krejčíková lost her opening group match in three sets toIga Świątek,[148] before bouncing back with straight sets wins overJessica Pegula[149] andCoco Gauff[150] to secure a place in the semifinals where she was defeated byZheng Qinwen in straight sets.[151] During her match American journalistJon Wertheim made derogatory comments during a private rehearsal regarding her forehead that lead to him being taken off the air. Krejčíková later wrote she expects more respect and professionalism” from the media covering sport events.[152]
Moving onto the grass-court season at theQueen's Club Championships in London where she was seeded seventh, she lost toRebecca Šramková in the first round.[157] Two weeks later, as second seed at theEastbourne Open, Krejčíková defeated wildcard entrantsHarriet Dart[158] andJodie Burrage to reach the quarterfinals.[159] She withdrew from the tournament before her last eight match due to a thigh injury.[160]
Defending her title atWimbledon, Krejčíková defeatedAlexandra Eala[161] andCaroline Dolehide,[162] both in three sets, to make it into the third round, at which point she lost to 10th seedEmma Navarro in another match which went to a deciding set.[163] As a result, Krejčíková dropped to world No. 78 on 14 July.[164]
She started the North American hard-court swing of the season with a first round defeat to wildcard entrant Bianca Andreescu at theCanadian Open.[165] Krejčíková found some form at her next event, theCincinnati Open, where she defeatedAlycia Parks,[166] 10th seed Elina Svitolina[167] and lucky loserIva Jovic,[168] before losing in the fourth round to seventh seed Jasmine Paolini.[169] At theUS Open, Krejčíková overcame 22nd seedVictoria Mboko,[170]Moyuka Uchijima,[171] 10th seed Emma Navarro[172] and Taylor Townsend to reach the quarterfinals,[173] at which point she lost to fourth seed Jessica Pegula.[174]
In September, Krejčíková defeated qualifierTatiana Prozorova[175] and eighth seed Emma Raducanu to make it into the quarterfinals at theKorea Open.[176] She lost in the last eight to top seed Iga Świątek.[177] Reunited with Kateřina Siniaková, she won thedoubles title at the tournament, overcomingMaya Joint andCaty McNally in the final.[178] At theChina Open, Krejčíková defeated Anna Blinkova[179] and ninth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova,[180] before retiring due to a knee injury in her third round match against McCartney Kessler.[181] She subsequently announced she was bringing her season to an early end to recover from the injury.[182]
Krejčíkova is an aggressive player, with an all-court game. She is known for her strong serve, powerful groundstrokes, and wholly complete net game.[183] She has been noted for her ability to play with "contained aggression", and to spontaneously inject pace into rallies without notice. As a result, she is capable of generating and redirecting power both crosscourt and down-the-line with both her groundstrokes, allowing her to hit winners, or induce unforced errors from opponents, with a high degree of accuracy.[184] Her two-handed backhand is arguably her strongest groundstroke, with her being able to generate extreme angles with her backhand, and hit winners from any position on the court. Krejčíkova can strategically apply slice to her backhand, continually breaking up the pace of rallies, allowing her to construct points intelligently. Her forehand is also strong, being applied with heavy topspin, pushing opponents far behind the baseline, and allowing her to dictate rallies. She also frequently deploys the sliced forehand, a rare shot in modern tennis, to surprise opponents and aid point construction. Krejčíkova is an exceptional net player due to her doubles experience, and possesses a complete repertoire of shots to perform at the net.[185] Although Krejčíkova typically plays at the baseline until the opportunity arises to attack the net, she occasionally utilises theserve-and-volley tactic to surprise opponents, and win points easily. She also possesses a highly effectivedrop shot, which typically lands close to the net, surprising opponents in long baseline rallies; if the opponent manages to retrieve the shot, her strong volleying skills allow her to end the point quickly with an aggressivevolley, or a perfectly weightedlob.,[186] which was instrumental in her defeat of Sakkari in the Roland Garros 2021 semi-final and the winning shot in the 2022 Australian Open doubles final. In the post-match press conference, Krejcikova revealed this was a talent she developed as a junior when the deep lobs would bounce over her shorter opponents’ heads and over the fence![187]
Despite her aggressive playing style, Krejčíkova possesses excellent movement, speed, stamina, footwork, and court coverage, allowing her to defend to an exceptionally high standard, and she is an effectivecounterpuncher, extending rallies until she creates the opportunity to hit a winner. Her first serve is strong, peaking at 110 mph (180 km/h), allowing her to serve aces and dictate play from the first stroke.[188] She also possesses strong kick and slice second serves, preventing opponents from scoring free points off her second serve.[189] She is quite prone to aborted ball tosses on serve. On occasion, Krejčíkova does have a tendency to take risks on her second serve, leading to a relatively high double fault count. Due to her aggressive mindset and defensive abilities, Krejčíkova is a dangerous opponent on all surfaces, although her strongest surface is clay, where the high bounce and slow pace allow her to execute her playing style perfectly.[190]
Krejčíková signed an endorsement deal in 2022 withFila for clothing, footwear, and apparel.[191] In Cincinnati Open 2025, she return to use Head for apparel. She is endorsed byHead for racquets, specifically using the Head Extreme racquet; she was previously sponsored by Head for clothing and footwear, until switching to Fila. She is also sponsored by Roko-Motor, the Czech division ofJaguar Land Rover.[citation needed]