• Thursday, 04 July 2024

Unseeded Vondrousova wins Wimbledon as Jabeur misses out again

Unseeded Vondrousova wins Wimbledon as Jabeur misses out again

London, 16 July 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Czech Marketa Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to win the Wimbledon title when she stunned Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 in Saturday's final.

Vondrousova, 24 years old and ranked 42nd, fought from 4-2 down in the first set and 3-1 down in the second to her biggest career success in 1 hour 20 minutes on second match point to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish.

Victory with a volley winner at the net came four years after she lost the French Open final against Ash Barty, and after she had to undergo wrist surgery last year which made her miss many events including Wimbledon.

She had only survived the first round at the All England Club once in her previous four appearances but this time around beat fourth seed Jessica Pegula from 4-1 down in the third set in the quarter-finals and reached the final by stopping high-flying Elina Svitolina.

"I had a cast this time last year, it's amazing I can stand here and hold this, tennis is crazy. The comebacks aren't easy, you never know what to expect," Vondrousova said.

World number six Jabeur meanwhile found herself on the losing end of a grand slam final for the third time in 12 months, having lost the Wimbledon decider against Elena Rybakina and the US Open final against Iga Swiatek.

The Tunisian got her revenge against Rybakina in the quarter-finals and then stopped Aryna Sabalenka but again fell short of becoming the first female grand slam singles champion from the Arab world and Africa after piling up 31 unforced errors to Vondrousova's 13.

"I think this is the most painful loss of my career. It will be tough day for me but I will not give up and come back stronger. We are going to make it one day, I promise you," a tearful Jabeur said.

But she also found kind words for Vondrousova, saying: "You are an amazing player and I know you had a lot of injuries so I'm very happy for you."

Vondrousova returned the compliments: "Ons, congratulations, you are such an inspiration for all of us, I hope you're going to win one day, you're an amazing person."

At first it didn't seem that Vondrousova would make it three wins from as many meetings with Jabeur this year as the Tunisian started strongly and broke for a 2-0 lead.

Vondrousova however fought back right away to tie at 2-2, after saving four break points.

Jabeur went break up a second time for 4-2 but again that didn't give her confidence as she started to hit errors which allowed Vondrousova to win the next four games and the set, with a service winner.

Vondrousova kept up the momentum to break in the opening game of the second set. Jabeur however regained her composure and turned the deficit into a 3-1 lead with a double break.

But again it was only a brief lead as she tightened up again.

Vondrousova tied at 3-3 and got the deciding break for 5-4 when Jabeur hit a forehand into the net. The Czech double faulted on first match point but victory was hers on the second.

That set off a weekend of celebrations which also include her first wedding anniversary, on Sunday and her husband having arrived at the All England Club to watch her biggest moment - after they finally found a cat sitter.

"I think I'm going to have some beer maybe. It was an exhausting two weeks, and I was getting myself together the last few days. I was so nervous before this game," she said.

The inked Vondrousova suggested that the Sunday programme will also include a visit to a tattoo studio because "I made a bet with my coach. He said if I win a grand slam he's going to get one also. So I think we're going to go tomorrow."

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