BBC Sport - Barbora Krejcikova dedicated her thrilling three-set Wimbledon win over French Open champion Mirra Andreeva to her tennis-loving niece, who was stuck at home with chickenpox.
The Czech, who won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 2024, toppled the fifth seed 4-6 7-5 6-4 after almost three gruelling hours on court.
Krejcikova came close to letting victory slip from her grasp as she missed six match points at 5-3 up in the deciding set, but she regained her composure to see out victory a game later as Andreeva's emotions got the better of her.
Krejcikova said afterwards that she hoped her performance on Centre Court - which she called "the best court in the world" - made her young niece proud.
"I believe my little niece was watching, and my nephew. She is also playing tennis and she loves it so hope she was watching," the 30-year-old said.
"She's actually sick, I think she has chickenpox. My nephew got it from kindergarten, so I hope my brother let her and my nephew watch this match.
"I hope she is going to be proud of me and hopefully I can give her some motivation for tennis and also for life."
Krejcikova has been plagued with injuries and dropped down the rankings since her triumph at the All England Club two years ago, while she suffered first-round exits at the Australian Open and Roland Garros earlier this season.
"It's definitely special. I have been through a lot with injuries and also in my personal life in the last couple months," the world number 38 added.
"It was really hard to get through with the all the emotions of what has happened."
While Krejcikova celebrated victory with a beaming smile, 19-year-old Andreeva hurled her racquet in frustration and shouted "I quit" towards her team before making a hasty exit off court.
The Russian teenager, who threatened to throw her racquet throughout the match, broke down in tears when she was asked about her performance in a news conference - held just minutes after her defeat.
Asked how long it would take to recover from the loss, Andreeva said she would "need a couple days," before she choked up.
The 19-year-old took a moment before continuing: "It's going to take some time, maybe a couple of days, and then I'm going to be back to practice for hard courts."
