This time last year, Barbora Krejcikova was riding a wave of momentum with her maiden Wimbledon title, but 2025 has been an unfortunate tumble, with pain and injury halting her stride. The Czech star arrived at the WTA 1000 China Open, eager for redemption after a second-round exit in her only prior appearance in 2023. With solid opening wins over Russians Anna Blinkova and Ekaterina Alexandrova, it seemed like the comeback train had left the station.

But fate had other plans. In her third-round clash with McCartney Kessler , Krejcikova was forced to retire with a knee injury, and her doubles match alongside partner Kateřina Siniaková was also scratched. Soon after, the two-time Slam champion shared an emotional message on Instagram and X, with a caption that read, “Sometimes life thro

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