Wimbledon champion reveals ‘never free of pain’ fear and hints at skipping tournaments
Barbora Krejcikova is stressed that she may never play free of pain again after suffering from a persistent back injury.
The 2024 Wimbledon champion has not played since the WTA Finals in September and recently pulled out of the Sunshine Double – the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open – as a persistent back injury keeps her sidelined.
The 29-year-old has now revealed her fear that she may never play without pain again after her recovery has taken longer than expected.
“Recovery is not as fast as I expected, that’s true, but I am doing everything possible to return as soon as possible,” she told Sport CZ.
“I wonder if I will ever be completely free of pain again, right now it is a situation that stresses me quite a bit.”
Since her career-defining and shock win at Wimbledon last summer, Krejcikova has played just four matches on the WTA Tour, losing three of them.
She did perform credibly in the end-of-season WTA Finals as she picked up a win against Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff to reach the semi-finals, ensuring she claimed a bumper $1,035,000 in prize money from that lucrative tournament.
Yet there are now big concerns over whether she can return to a full schedule any time soon, with he ranking sliding as she continues to spend time away from the court.
She could drop out of the top 20 in the next few weeks and with 2,000 points to defend from her Wimbledon win last July, Krejcikova could face a massive rankings slide if she is not fully fit to defend her title at the All England Club.
Krejcikova’s injury woes began during the Olympics and she has highlighted how difficult it can be to transition from grass to clay in a short space of time.
“It was during the summer when everything started to go wrong, transitioning from grass to clay is one of the most challenging tasks, and we had very little time to do it,” she said.
“I remember that the first day it rained, on the second, there was heat, and I played in the afternoon with the hottest weather, as well as long matches.
“I noticed this the next day when my strength quickly began to diminish. After the first match, my head was spinning and I had cramps, I didn’t feel well at all.”
Tennis News
Jannik Sinner ban: ‘Not answered’ issues questioned by Grand Slam champion
Carlos Alcaraz’s coach defends Spaniard’s latest exhibition match ahead of Indian Wells defence
The two-time Grand Slam winner also revealed that she felt as if she was going to collapse but continued as representing her country was the most important thing to her. She did, however, suggest she may have to limit her doubles action in order to stay on top of her injuries.
“It was a very important event, representing my country, which was very important to me,” the Czech player said. “I couldn’t tell [doubles partner] Katerina [Siniakova] that I wouldn’t play, that was impossible, even if we had to fail in the early matches… which is what eventually happened.
“I guess I’m starting to get a little older, that I will have to gradually limit my participation in doubles, where I need to start being a little more selective.”
Read next: The five women to beat the world No 1, 2 and 3 at the same tournament
