In the four years since Marketa Vondrousova first reached a grand slam final at the French Open in 2019, the entire face of the sport has changed. Many of the greatest players of previous generations have retired, while other top players have risen and fallen. All the while, it still wasn’t clear whether this talented, unique lefty from the Czech Republic would fulfil the early promise she showed as a 19-year-old in Paris.
Her long-awaited breakthrough has come under unexpected circumstances on a surface that she had only ever won two main draw matches on before this year. No matter, on Saturday afternoon, the unseeded Czech completed a magical fortnight by defeating Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 to become a grand slam champion for the first time at Wimbledon.
With her victory, Vondrousova is the latest in the unending stream of Czech female players to establish themselves at the top of the sport and the third Czech Wimbledon champion. At No 42, Vondrousova is the lowest ranked Wimbledon champion since the WTA rankings were introduced.
The spectacle, though, was as much about Jabeur crumbling under the weight of the occasion. She had played the single best tournament of her life to return to the final, snatching incredible wins over Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka. But as she rounded on the final as the heavy favourite to become the first African or Arab player to win a grand slam title, playing for so much more than herself, Jabeur could not handle it.
It was, on paper, a match between two of tennis’ artists, whose success has been dictated by their hand skills and vision as well as all other aspects of their talent. It was appropriate, then, that the final opened with the pair exchanging slices, with Jabeur approaching the net behind her slice before Vondrousova threw up a sweet lob winner.
In her third grand slam final over the past five major tournaments, Jabeur seemed to settle quickly as she broke serve in the opening game. But Vondrousova was right behind. The Czech’s defence, resourcefulness and her ability to keep the ball low on the skidding grass presented a completely different challenge to the three consecutive enormous ball strikers Jabeur had faced before her.
It quickly became clear that Jabeur was incredibly tight. As Vondrousova scrambled, retrieved and constantly put the ball in awkward positions, Jabeur’s errors began to flow freely. From 4-2 up, Jabeur conceded four games in a row to meekly hand over the first set.
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Despite taking a bathroom break between sets, Jabeur simply could not shake off her tightness and errors as she trailed 1-0 and 40-0 on Vondrousova’s serve. But then something happened. Jabeur feathered an angled backhand passing shot beyond Vondrousova and then she reached deuce by taking the initiative with a wicked forehand winner.
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Suddenly, Jabeur looked like a completely different player. Her footwork was crisp, her movement alert. She broke serve twice and forced a 3-1 lead, prompting a long ovation from the crowd. But Jabeur could not maintain the intensity and the tight errors continued to pile up. From 3-1 up, Jabeur conceded five of the last six games as the intelligent, steady 24-year-old returned to win her first major title.
More details to follow …