Unseeded Marketa Vondrousova defeated favored Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 to win the women’s singles title at Wimbledon in London on Saturday.
It is the first Grand Slam win for Vondrousova, 24, in her second major final. She became the first unseeded Wimbledon finalist in the Open Era when she beat Elina Svitolina in the semifinals on Thursday, and she is the first unseeded woman ever to win at Wimbledon.
Vondrousova, from the Czech Republic, sealed the win over Jabeur, the No. 6 seed, with a drop shot that the 28-year-old Tunisian couldn’t reach. The match took 80 minutes and it largely came down to service points.
Jabeur converted only 48 percent of her first serves to points compared to 61 percent for Vondrousova. Jabeur saved just one of seven break points.
Vondrousova won the final four games of the first set and broke Jabeur three times in the second set.
Vondrousova was a spectator last year at Wimbledon, her arm in a cast following wrist surgery, as Jabeur lost to Elena Rybakina in the finals.
“It’s amazing I can stand here and hold this, you know,” the Czech said. “Tennis is crazy.”
She thanked the crowd, which included the greatest Czech player ever, Martina Navratilova, who won Wimbledon nine times from 1978-90.
“It was exhausting, but I’m just so, so grateful and proud of myself,” Vondrousova added.
Ranked No. 42 in the world, Vondrousova is the second-lowest ranked champion at the All England Club since the introduction of the WTA rankings.
Prior to this year, Vondrousova, had a losing record at Wimbledon. She beat four seeded players en route to the semifinals: No. 12 Veronika Kudermetova, No. 20 Donna Vekic, No. 32 Marie Bouzkova and No. 4 Jessica Pegula.
Jabeur was the fifth seeded player she beat, and the loss clearly was difficult to absorb.
For Jabeur, this was her third unsuccessful final in the past five Grand Slam tournaments (Wimbledon 2022, U.S. Open 2022), and her tears started as the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, presented her with the runner-up trophy.
“I think this is the most painful loss of my career,” said Jabeur, who led 3-1 in the second set and was striving to become to the first Arab and African to win a Grand Slam title.
“It’s gonna be a tough day today for me, but I’m not gonna give up and I’m gonna come back stronger. … It’s been a tough journey but that’s tennis and I promise I’ll come back and then win this tournament,” she told the crowd.
–Field Level Media
