The 21st century
Czech Republic · born Plzeň, 1986 · right-handed · Wimbledon doubles champion 2019 and 2023 with Hsieh Su-wei, singles semi-finalist 2019
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2
Wimbledon doubles titles with Hsieh Su-wei, 2019 and 2023
12-0
Sets won to lose none on the way to the 2019 Wimbledon doubles title
33
Her age at her first Grand Slam singles semi-final, Wimbledon 2019
27
Weeks at world No. 1 in doubles, first reached after Wimbledon 2019
2002
Wimbledon girls' doubles champion with Elke Clijsters
Barbora Strýcová was born in Plzeň on 28 March 1986. She was junior world champion in 2002, when she won the Australian Open girls' singles for the first of two years running and the Wimbledon girls' doubles with Elke Clijsters, and she turned professional the same year. She played as Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová during her marriage to her coach Jakub Záhlava and returned to her maiden name after their divorce in 2015.
In singles she won titles at Québec in 2011 and Linz in 2017 and reached No. 16 in January 2017. In doubles she won 32 titles and became world No. 1 on 15 July 2019, holding the ranking for 27 weeks in all. She won six Fed Cups with the Czech Republic between 2011 and 2018 and a bronze medal in doubles with Lucie Šafářová at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. She served a six-month ban, backdated to run from October 2012 to April 2013, after testing positive for the stimulant sibutramine, which she said came from a supplement; the ITF found no significant fault or negligence.
She announced her retirement in May 2021, had a son, Vincent, that September, and came back in 2023 for one last season. Reunited with Hsieh Su-wei, she won Wimbledon for a second time that July and played her last match at the US Open in September.
| Wimbledon doubles finals | 2019 with Hsieh Su-wei, seeded third: beat Gabriela Dabrowski and Xu Yifan 6-2, 6-4, without dropping a set all fortnight. 2023, unseeded: beat Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens 7-5, 6-4 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon singles 2019 | Unseeded, beat Johanna Konta 7-6 (5), 6-1 in the quarter-finals, then lost the semi-final to Serena Williams 6-1, 6-2 |
| Wimbledon singles 2014 | Ranked No. 43, beat the second seed Li Na 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) in the third round, her first win over Li in three meetings, and went on to her first major quarter-final |
| Birmingham | Doubles champion with Karolína Plíšková in 2016 and with Hsieh in 2019; singles runner-up in 2016, losing the final to Madison Keys 6-3, 6-4 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Women's doubles | with Hsieh Su-wei |
| 2023 | Women's doubles | with Hsieh Su-wei |
| Birmingham | ||
| 2016 | Women's doubles | with Karolína Plíšková |
| 2019 | Women's doubles | with Hsieh Su-wei |
| 's-Hertogenbosch (Rosmalen) | ||
| 2011 | Women's doubles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | with Klára Koukalová |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"Being a mum is more than being a Wimbledon champion."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 2023
The comeback began with a message to her old partner: "Let's try to play Wimbledon 2023 just to come back and feel the atmosphere." Hsieh's reply, as Strýcová told it: "Yeah, let's do that. Let's just have fun." After winning the final she said: "Here we are with the trophy. It's crazy."
Source: NBC Sports (Associated Press), 2023Wimbledon 2023 · Final
Strýcová said she cried every half hour before the 2023 final, and kept her speech on Centre Court short because she was close to tears again. Her son Vincent watched the final from a nearby house with his grandmother.
Source: WTATraining, 2023
With a small son who slept badly, she practised far less than before: about three short court sessions and four fitness sessions a week, and she "had three days a week and didn't care it wasn't six." In the final, she said, "I was thinking of him in the final... and it helped me a lot because I stopped thinking about the game."
Source: AFP via Malay Mail, 2023Wimbledon 2019 · Quarter-final
Against Johanna Konta she hit 22 winners and nine unforced errors to Konta's 34 errors, using a short forehand slice, volleys and half-volleys to break the British player's rhythm. It was her first Grand Slam singles semi-final, five years after her only previous major quarter-final, also at Wimbledon.
Source: WTAUS Open, 2023
In her last interview as a player she said she wanted to be remembered as: "She was crazy, but on the other hand, she was also very grateful, humble and had respect for others." On her comeback she joked: "I didn't lose a match!"
Source: Tennis.com, 2023Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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