Two years in the past on the French Open, Barbora Krejcikova arrived comparatively unknown and comparatively unaccomplished — and left with championships in each singles and doubles, one thing no lady had executed at Roland Garros in additional than 20 years.
A 12 months in the past on the French Open, Krejcikova got here in after three months off due to an elbow harm and her title protection in singles ended with a first-round loss, solely the third ever by the earlier 12 months’s champion in additional than a half-century of the Open period.
After which her title protection in doubles ended earlier than that occasion started due to a optimistic check for COVID-19, which hit her so laborious she didn’t get away from bed for 4 days.
As Krejcikova ready to return to motion in Paris on Tuesday, going through Lesia Tsurenko at Court docket 7, this a lot was clear in her thoughts: She doesn’t wish to dwell on what occurred in Paris both of the previous two years.
“All of it occurred, however I’m positively not fascinated by it anymore,” Krejcikova stated in an interview with The Related Press. “What occurred final 12 months, occurred final 12 months. What occurred two years in the past, occurred two years in the past. Now I’m residing within the current and I’m right here.”
That she would wish to neglect her 2022 journey to Paris, fake it by no means occurred, each due to the fast defeat and due to the sickness? That is sensible. That’s completely relatable.
That she would harbor an analogous sentiment about 2021, when she produced probably the most triumphant two weeks of her skilled life? Hmmm.
When that query was put to the 27-year-old from the Czech Republic, she reconsidered. OK, there are some good vibes that come again and she or he is keen to get pleasure from.
“Undoubtedly each time I come right here, and each time I step into this stadium, I at all times smile, as a result of I really feel actually good right here,” she stated with a smile.
“What occurred two years in the past? I simply by no means really thought this might occur. As slightly child, you might have this dream: You see gamers taking part in the large tournaments they usually’re successful them, and also you’re considering, ‘Perhaps at some point? Or possibly not? Ought to I am going to high school? Ought to I not?’ After which it really got here true. Out of nowhere. Sudden,” Krejcikova stated. “It’s very good that I can say that I’m a Grand Slam champion.”
She rose as excessive as No. 2 within the WTA rankings and is presently thirteenth. Whereas the names on everybody’s lips because the elite of ladies’s tennis this season are Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, Krejcikova considers herself somebody to not be forgotten.
“I really feel,” she stated, “that I’m a part of the gamers which might be actually near them.”
Krejcikova proved that at a hard-court event in Dubai in February, when she took the title by beating the highest three girls within the rankings — No. 1 Swiatek, No. 2 Sabalenka and No. 3 Jessica Pegula — together with one other Prime 10 opponent, Daria Kasatkina, and one other Grand Slam champion, two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova.
That offered a lift of confidence.
However solely briefly.
And the way in which she described that week-in, week-out tour life provides some perception into why she is likely to be a tad conflicted about focusing an excessive amount of on what occurred in 2021 and 2022 on the French Open.
“The following week, you play one other event, and the week in Dubai is already prior to now. It’s not like you might have lots of time to really rejoice it and truly get pleasure from it and be ok with it, as a result of the subsequent week you may lose,” Krejcikova stated with a sigh. “Then you definately really feel extra bitter than candy, as a result of it simply goes on each single week. You don’t have time to course of what occurred. It simply goes on and on. We’re like robots — subsequent one and subsequent one and subsequent one. It’s a continuing battle of optimistic and unfavorable feelings.”
