The most improved player
Barbora Krejcikova
Barbora Krejcikova clinched the Roland Garros singles title in Paris three years after becoming the French Open doubles champion. The Czech player defeated Russia’s Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 1-6 6-4. Krejcikova is the third unseeded champion in the French capital in the past five years after Jelena Ostapenko in 2017 and Iga Swiatek in 2019.
Krejcikova has become the first Czech player to win the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen since Hana Mandlikova in 1981. She was presented with the trophy by tennis legend Martina Navratilova.
Krejcikova lost the first set against Krystina Pliskova in the first round before winning. She then won her following four matches in straight sets against Ekaterina Alexandrova, Elina Svitolina, Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff en route to her first Grand Slam semifinal. Krejcikova fended off a match point before beating Maria Sakkari 7-5 4-6 9-7.
Barbora Krejcikova: “It’s something I have always dreamed about. Winning here, my first doubles title, then winning the mixed ones. Now I was just telling myself, it would be really nice if I can get the Grand Slam in all three categories. I cannot believe it. It’s unreal that it’s actually happening. A girl from a little city in Czech Republic where we have six courts. My journey is inspiring because nine months ago I was actually out of the top 100. I had the label that I am a doubles player. Nine months later, I am actually a singles Grand Slam champion”.
Krejickova started the 2021 season at a career-high of world number 65 in the WTA singles Ranking. Before this season the Brno-native player was known mainly as a doubles player and won two Grand Slam doubles titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon with her partner Katerina Siniakova in 2018.
She reached her first WTA 1000 final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last March. She beat Maria Sakkari, Jelena Ostapenko, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Potapova and Jil Teichmann before losing to Garbine Muguruza 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 in the championship match. As a result, Krejikova rose to a career-high world number 38.
Krejcikova beat Sorana Cristea in the final to win her first WTA singles title in Strasbourg.
The Czech reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in her first tournament as a Grand Slam champion, before losing to eventual champion Ashleigh Barty. The Czech player went on to win her third title of the season at the WTA 250 in Prague, breaking into the top 10 for the first time in her career.
She continued her great period of form during the North American hard-court season, when she reached the quarter final in Cincinnati before losing to Ashleigh Barty in straight sets. Krejcikova beat Garbine Muguruza in straight sets in the fourth round at the US Open to reach her second Grand Slam quarter final before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.
Krejcikova won 29 of her last 33 WTA matches to qualify for the WTA Finals in Guadalajara. She scored a record of 45 wins to 17 defeats in singles matches and tied for third on tour with three titles.
The best doubles team of the year
Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova
The Czech doubles team formed by Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova won five WTA doubles titles in 2021 at the Gippsland Open in Melbourne, the Madrid Mutua Open, Roland Garros and at the Akron WTA Finals in Guadalajara. They also claimed the Olympic gold medal by beating Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic 7-5 6-1 in Tokyo.
They beat Karolina and Krystina Pliskova in an all Czech quarter final match, Bernarda Pera and Magda Linette in the semifinal, Bethanie Mattek Sands and Iga Swiatek in the final to claim their second Roland Garros title. Krejcikova became the first woman since Mary Pierce in 2000 to win both the singles and doubles titles in the same edition of the French Open.
They also reached the doubles final at the Australian Open before finishing runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens in the final.
Krejcikova went on to become the only player to qualify for both the singles and doubles tournaments at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara. Krejcikova and Siniakova won the WTA Finals doubles title, beating Hsieh-Su-Wei and Elise Mertens 6-3 6-4.
Siniakova also teamed up with Jelena Ostapenko to win the doubles title at the Kremlin Open and ended the year as the world number 1 doubles player.
