The Cinderella story is complete.
Long known for her doubles prowess, Barbora Krejcikova entered the French Open on the back of her first career WTA singles title and a career-high ranking of world No. 33. While those in tune with women's tennis might've expected an in-form player to make a deep run, few - not even Krejcikova herself - would've expected her to go all the way to her first Grand Slam singles title.
But that's exactly what the 25-year-old Czech did over the course of seven matches in Paris, winning a tournament that unfolded to have six first-time major quarterfinalists.
Along the way, Krejcikova defeated No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina (third round), Sloane Stephens (fourth round), No. 24 seed Coco Gauff (quarterfinals) and No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari (semifinals), saving a match point against the Greek to reach the championship match.
In the final, she took on No. 31 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, herself the author of a breakthrough run to her first major final after six previous defeats in Grand Slam quarterfinals, and came out the victor in the clash of debutantes, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
The Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen will now occupy a spot on Krejcikova's mantle alongside two women's doubles Slams and three Australian Open mixed doubles crowns.
"It's something I have always dreamed about," she said after the match. "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. Now it's happening. I cannot believe it. Wow."
Krejcikova becomes the first Czech woman to win the singles title in Paris since Hana Mandlikova in 1981, when she was playing for the former Czechoslovakia. She is also the third unseeded singles champion in the past five years, joining Jelena Ostapenko in 2017 and Iga Swiatek last fall.
While the victory was emotional for Krejcikova in many ways, it was perhaps most evident when she spoke of her longtime mentor, the late Jana Novotna, who recognized Krejcikova's talent as a teenager and traveled with her at the beginnings of her professional career.
The Hall of Famer, who won a combined 17 Grand Slams in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, passed away from cancer in 2017.
"Jana was really special to me. She was really special. She pretty much just told me, Go and play pro. When I was 18, I actually finished juniors, I didn't really know what to do. There was a time when I approached her, when I went to her house with my parents. We just ask her. She was always very nice," Krejcikova said.
"We just had a really special bond, and when I found out that she [was] sick... I just felt that if I'm going to go through this process and I'm going to just help her and support her, it's going to give me a lot of strength. Then I'm going to appreciate a lot of things more.
"I also think that she was also happy that I was there. That's why she's looking after me right now. That's actually why I have this many Grand Slams, because she's just from somewhere above looking after me. She wants me to win. She knows what it means to me, and I know what it would mean to her."
The 25-year-old right-hander, ranked outside the Top 100 at this time last year, will soar to a new career-high singles ranking of world No. 15. She'll even be seeded at Wimbledon, where she has never before featured in the main draw.
"I'm not planning to change, not planning to do anything different. I'm just planning to work hard again. This is such a big motivation to just work hard, enjoy this journey, enjoy tennis and everything," she said.
"I guess a lot of things are going to change. For me, I'm just going to still be the little girl from my city, from my little city, that used to start on the tennis wall."
