Unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova steamrolled into the Wimbledon women’s final, where she’ll meet sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur.
Jabeur of Tunisia rallied for a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in two hours and 19 minutes in Thursday’s second semifinal. It’s Jabeur’s second consecutive appearance in the final at Wimbledon.
Vondrousova faced no such drama, rolling to a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the first semi.
Vondrousova, 24, reached the final at the All England Club for the first time and is only the fifth unseeded woman to get this far. She’s in the second Grand Slam final of her career after eliminating Svitolina in just over an hour on Centre Court, the first appearance there for Vondrousova in her career.
“I cannot believe it,” she said after the match. “It was a very tough match. She was coming back. She was playing some good tennis. I’m just very happy that I stayed focused and I stayed in my head. I’m happy with the way I finished it.”
The 2019 French Open finalist was fighting “crazy nerves” in closing out the final set, when she built a 4-0 lead. Vondrousova led 4-2 and double faulted on game point, twice broken by an energized Svitolina, who reached the semifinal by eliminating No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
Billie Jean Moffitt (later King) was the last unseeded women’s finalist in 1963.
Vondrousova, who had a 22-9 edge in winners, is the fourth Czech woman to reach the Wimbledon final, joining Jana Novotna, Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova.
Jabeur became the first woman to reach back-to-back finals at Wimbledon since Serena Williams in 2018-19. And once again she was forced to play from behind after dropping a first set tiebreak, which she also did in her quarterfinal win against Elena Rybakina.
“Thank you to the crowd who kept me in the match,” Jabeur said. “It was very difficult accepting her serves and her shots. Thank you guys for cheering me and believing in me.
“I’m proud of myself. Old me would have lost the match and would be home now. But I dug deep and found the strength.”
Jabeur survived 10 aces by Sabalenka, who notched 39 winners but 45 unforced errors. Jabeur finished with 28 winners against 14 unforced errors.
–Field Level Media
