By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday October 2, 2020

Barbora Krejcikova had to let go of her ambition before she could realize a dream in Paris. The Czech, who is a two-time doubles Grand Slam champion and the current World No.9 in doubles, reached the women's singles round of 16 in Paris for the first time, with a three-set victory over Tsvetana Pironkova.



Krejcikova, 24, said she was feeling so stressed about making it as a singles player that she finally decided to just let it go.

“I think for sure mentally I feel different,” she told reporters on Friday. “I've been playing for so long. I've been trying to break to the top 100 for so long. Every time I was really close, I couldn't really make it. So this time we got the stop, we got the break. I think I was 116 or something. Then I was like, Okay, now is the time to break it. I was a little nervous about it because I really wanted to make it.

"Coming to this tournament I tried to change my mind with this. I was just like, ‘Okay, maybe I will never make it. Maybe I'm just going to be just a doubles player, okay? It's fine.’”

Krejcikova says she was just happy to be at Roland-Garros on the clay she loves, playing the game.

“I kind of like realized it, I was okay with that,” she said. “I just went here, I just wanted to play every single match. I love clay. I love to play in here, Roland Garros. It was my very first tournament when I played main draw two years ago. Two years ago we won the doubles here, my first Grand Slam. You know, it's very special for me.”

The moment was made even more special by the fact that today was Jana Novotna’s birthday. The Czech was close to the former Wimbledon champion when she died of cancer in 2017. Novotna is an inspirational figure to so many in tennis, but to Krejcikova, the bond is even more special.

“Also I have to say that today was really special also because my former coach, Jana Novotna, who passed away, she would have a birthday today,” Krejcikova said. “It was very emotional for me, very special that I could win this match today. I would like to also dedicate it to her because she would be really happy for my result.

“It actually made it really, really tough. Really tough. I spoke with one of my friends, one of the former tennis players, she know Jana well. We were talking about it a little bit. She's like, Okay, now is the time. You should play for her. ‘I'm like, No, I cannot do this because I'm just going to get too emotional, and it's not going to help me. I'm going to be more nervous, more tight and everything.’