When Krejcikova was making the transition from juniors to pros, she and her parents visited the four-time Grand Slam singles finalist Novotnaat her home for advice, according to WTA.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I worked with Jana Novotna (the late 1998 Wimbledon champion). She told me a lot of stories about her journey here and how she tried to win. She is definitely my inspiration. I fight for every single ball because I think that\u2019s what she\u2019d want me to do. I just miss her so much,\" said Krejcikova in her on-court interview.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"(Novotna and I) talked about [her] matches here,\" she added, in her post-match press conference. \"It's been some while since we talked about it, so I can't really tell you what it was about. But we definitely did. Yeah, I mean, I hope she would be proud.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Not only did Novotna provide words of wisdom, but she became a hands-on coach for Krejcikova during her trip up the ranks through the ITF Challenger circuit. She was Novotna's last protegee before her death from ovarian cancer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"After my juniors career, it was a lot about Jana [as an inspiration] because I had an opportunity to meet her and to spend time with her and see, like, how she behaves, who she is, how such a big champion she is,\" Krejcikova said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Not only did Novotna provide words of wisdom, but she became a hands-on coach for Krejcikova during her trip up the ranks through the ITF Challenger circuit. She was Novotna's last protegee before her death from ovarian cancer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n