This time last year, Barbora Krejcikova was on the top of a crest. Recently crowned Wimbledon champion and back in the top 10 in the world. Unfortunately, 2025 has not pictured out how she would have hoped, with her latest injury setback a testament to the campaign she has endured.

The Czech star was competing in the illustrious WTA 1000 China Open, an event she has only played in once before back in 2023, suffering a second-round defeat. She was looking for a much improved run, and started off with two positive results against Russian duo Anna Blinkova and Ekaterina Alexandrova in the opening two rounds.

Unfortunately, in her third-round tie against McCartney Kessler, she was forced to reitre due to a knee injury. Krejcikova had started the brighter, winning the first set 6-1. From 2-0 down in the second set, she won four on the spin to take command, but was pegged back by her American opponent, who won five of the remaining six games to win the set 7-5 and force a deciding set.

This only lasted three games, all going the way to Kessler. She had been battling a knee issue from the first game, where she even took a medical timeout. Eventually, it was too much for her, and she called it a day to abruptly halt her China Open campaign.

Another injury setback for Krejcikova

2025 has not been Krejcikova’s year. Even before it started, she was forced to miss the Australian Open with a back injury she picked up late in the 2024 Asian swing. This led her also miss the first six 1000 events of the year, and much of the clay court swing.

She made her return in May at the Strasbourg Open, but failed to mark her return with a win, losing to Pole Magda Linette. This was all the preparation she managed for Roland Garros, a tournament that she won in the singles 2021, and twice in doubles. She defeated Tatjana Maria in the first round but was then dumped out by Veronika Kudermetova.

Into the grass swing, and she still struggled for form and positive results. Her best run of the year came at the Eastbourne Open where she was the only seeded player to reach the quarter-finals, just managing that after saving multiple match points from Brits Harriet Dart and Jodie Burragde in the rounds beforehand. It would be a familiar story for Krejcikova though, as she withdrew before her quarter-final tie against French qualifier Varvara Gracheva. This was a due to a thigh injury, citing full fitness before the defence of her Wimbledon title.

She received another setback from this tournament, but not down to injury. A third-round exit to Emma Navarro saw her drop down to world number 78, with all the missed events due to injury catching up with her.

A much-improved North American hardcourt swing has seen her rise back up to number 34 in the world. She made it to the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open and also made an impressive run to the US Open last-eight, losing in straight sets to Jessica Pegula.

She was looking to continue this fine form into Asia, but was halted with this recent knee injury, which has subsequently seen her pull out of the doubles event. It is dreadful timing for the 29-year-old, who is targetting a top 32 return for the start of the year to be seeded at the Australian Open. She still has 528 ranking points to defend this year, meaning she is under pressure to get fit and compete again. Her next competition should be the Wuhan Open, where she may have to play through qualifying to participate. However, there is no time-scale on the injury as of yet.