By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, July 15, 2023
Marketa Vondrousova won five of the final six games stopping Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 to become the first unseeded Wimbledon women's winner in history.
Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty
Wimbledon—Grass-court tennis was once a rocky road for Marketa Vondrousova.
Today, Vondrousova transformed Centre Court lawn into the ultimate feel-good platform.
More: Vondrousova is Comeback Queen
Competing with calm desire, world No. 42 Vondrousova swept an error-prone Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 to become the first unseeded Wimbledon women’s champion in history.
Down a break in both sets, Vondrousova never pressed the panic button rolling through five of the final six games to deny Jabeur’s dream of becoming the first African, first Arab and first Tunisian woman to capture a Grand Slam singles title.
On her second championship point, Vondrousova intercepted a pass, blocked a volley and dropped to her knees in an eruption of emotion.
"It's unbelievable," Vondrousova told the media afterward. "It was very tough match, and I was so nervous before.
"I'm just so grateful and proud of myself."
The 24-year-old from Sokolov, who arrived in SW19 with one career title and two career main-draw grass wins, joins Jana Novotna and Petra Kvitova as the third Czech woman to raise the Rosewater Dish. She realized her dream with Czech-born legend Martina Navratilova watching from the Royal Box.
“I don’t know what’s happening right now. It’s an amazing feeling,” Vondrousova told Annabel Croft in her on-court interview. “Ons, you are such an inspiration for all of us. I hope you are going to win one day—you are an amazing person.”
It's an absolutely astounding triumph for Vondrousova, who attended Wimbledon as a fan last year.
Recovering from wrist surgery with a cast wrapping her left wrist, Vondrousova would have struggled to pick up a packed racquet bag 12 months ago.
Today, she raised the Rosewater Dish with pure joy as her family, including husband Stepan Simek, beamed with pride after embracing her in a collective group hug.
It will be a dual celebration for Vondrousova, who will celebrate her one-year wedding anniversary tomorrow with a family party in London.
Dropped by her long-time sponsor Nike as her ranking plummeted to No. 99 at the end of 2022, Vondrousova was unsure if she’d ever reproduce the dynamic tennis that made her the 2019 Roland Garros runner-up and Olympic silver medalist.
On the most iconic stage in the sport, the most heavily tattooed player in tennis made an indelible mark defeating five seeded opponents to capture her maiden major and second career title.
“After everything I been through, I had a cast last year at this time, It’s amazing I can stand here and hold this,” Vondrousova said. “It’s amazing.
“The comebacks aren’t easy—you never know what to expect—after the second one I was hoping I can come back at this level and now this is happening.”
Unseeded and unconquerable, Vondrousova played the pressure points with more care converting six of seven break points. Vondrousova is the lowest-ranked women’s Wimbledon champion and the 10th lowest-ranked women’s Grand Slam champion in the Open Era.
Three-time Grand Slam runner-up Jabeur was pure class in defeat after a horrific performance that saw her blow one-break leads in both sets, scatter 31 unforced errors—18 more than her opponent—and repeatedly send shot after shot into the tape.
Ultimately, Jabeur just could not get enough net clearance when the left-handed Vondrousova hit her twisting high topspin forehand crosscourt into the Tunisian’s two-hander.
The Tunisian trailblazer looked devastated afterward raising the runner-up trophy and pushing back tears as Vondrousova and most in the capacity Centre Court crowd stood and saluted the two-time Wimbledon finalist with an extended ovation.
The tears on her face told the story of the pain within as Jabeur, who showed so much guts defeating four Grand Slam champions to reach the final, knows this may well have been her best shot at mastering a major.
Afterward, a gutted Jabeur called it the most painful defeat of her career.
“This is very, very tough—I’m gonna look ugly in the photos so it’s not gonna help,” Jabeur said. “I think this is the most painful loss of my career.
“I want to say congratulations to Marketa and her team for this amazing tournament. You’re an amazing person and I know you’ve had a lot of injuries so I’m very happy for you.”
Through the suffering, Jabeur vowed to return stronger.
“It’s gonna be a tough day for me today but I’m not gonna give up. I’m gonna come back stronger,” Jabeur said.
“I promise I will come back one day and win this tournament.”
Undoubtedly, Vondrousova played cleaner tennis between the lines.
Ultimately, she won this title with clarity between the ears. Vondrousova looked down and out in the quarterfinals trailing fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula 1-4 in the final set on No. 1 Court only to surge through five straight games in a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 triumph that propelled her positive self belief.
Though it wasn’t raining at the 2 p.m. start of the final, the Centre Court roof was closed as the forecast called for afternoon rain and a wild wind.
The Princess of Wales, wearing a yellow dress bearing a miniature Wimbledon flag, sat next to Hall of Famer Billie Jean King in the Royal Box as Jabeur held serve to start. Sixty years ago, King was the last unseeded Wimbledon women's finalist.
Forcing Vondrousova to defend off her back foot, Jabeur sliced a smash to help her earn double break point in the second game.
Slipping to strike a return, Jabeur scrambled to her feet and eventually coaxed a netted forehand to break right out of the box for 2-0.
Nerves were evident in Vondrousova, who was shaky and struggling for net clearance flattening forehands into the net. Settling in, Vondrousova put a bit more air on her topspin forehand eliciting a couple of errors from her opponent to break back in the third game.
The two-time finalist used a flurry of forehands to earn four break points in the fourth game. Vondrousova fended off all four, benefitting from Jabeur poking a point-blank drop shot into the tape, and when the Tunisian netted another dropper, the Czech held to level after four games.
It was no shocker Vondrousova, who had beaten Jabeur in both prior meetings this year including the Australian Open, came back. What was surprising was how the perpetually-positive Jabeur grew so ornery so quickly and her negative body language, including banging her racquet and her body, had to soothe Vondrousova seeing the favorite so tight at times.
During that game, Jabeur released some stress pounding her fist off her thigh in frustration.
The sixth seed came right back bursting through eight of the next nine points, exploiting a sloppy Vondrousova serve game to break at love for 4-2.
Shaking it off, a scrambling Vondrousova returned the favor running down a dropper and poking a pass down the line to break back at love in the seventh game. Vondrousova won eight of nine points to even after eight games.
A suddenly surging Vondrousova won 12 of 14 points scoring her second straight break on a netted Jabeur drive for 5-4.
Walking tall around the court, Vondrousova was exuding confidence, while Jabeur, staring at her strings as if scanning them for solutions, slapped another drive into the net on set point.
Vondrousova exploited 15 unforced errors from Jabeur snatching the 40-minute opener.
Confronting that 2-4 deficit, the first Open Era unseeded Wimbledon women’s finalist flowed through 16 of the last 18 points to move within one set of the Wimbledon championship.
For the fourth time in the tournament, Jabeur would have to rally from a one-set deficit.
The difference was the pressure of the final, the funky lefty spins of her opponent and the fact Jabeur, who had defused big-hitters ranging from Petra Kvitova to 2022 champion Elena Rybakina to Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka had more time to think in this final whereas she was reacting to pace in those wins over power players.
Dropping four games in a row, Jabeur left the court for a bathroom break. She couldn’t flush frustration. Continuing to spew errors into net, Jabeur netted a forehand down the line as Vondrousova broke to start the second set with her fifth straight game.
The US Open finalist rallied from 40-love down rallying to stop her spiral at five games and break back in the second game of set two.
That stand sprung Jabeur right back into the match as she drove a diagonal forehand to break back from 40-0 down to level after two games.
Picking on the left-hander’s forehand, Jabeur drew a loopy error earning her third straight game on her second break.
In another plot twist, Vondrousova broke back—the ninth break in the first 15 games of the match—to get back on serve while Jabeur yelled in angst to her box.
"I think it's related to the fact that I didn't serve really well. I was able to break both times, but very difficult," Jabeur said. "I didn't have the feeling I was controlling my serve. I was maybe troubling her little bit. So that's why it was very difficult for me to win that serve game.
"Yeah, I wish I was able to hold, especially in the first set. Maybe it could have been a different match."
Contesting her 12th career final, Jabeur was fighting herself and her opponent at that point. Deploying the drop shot, Jabeur got burned as Vondrousova nudged a winning reply down the line to hold for 3-3.
During changeovers, Vondrousova looked more relaxed while Jabeur buried her face in her towel as if trying to wipe away the deep disappointment.
Even after eight games, Jabeur scattered a forehand wide handing Vondrousova a break point.
Dancing to her left, Vondrousova jammed a forehand down the middle and Jabeur netted yet another forehand.
The woman who attended Wimbledon as a fan last year was up 5-4 and would serve for the Rosewater Dish.
Stepping to serve for the title, Vondrousova looked calm while her husband and her sister, who was in near tears in the box, were leaning forward intently. Another Jabeur error gave Vondrousova triple championship point.
Vondrousova double faulted on her first championship point.
Resetting, the Czech didn’t wait for an error, she took it right to Jabeur. Vondrousova knocked off a volley and dropped to the grass and arose as Grand Slam champion.
"When I was 40-Love up, I almost couldn't breathe. It's just like everything is on you," Vondrousova said. "Yeah, I mean, I'm just very happy that I stayed in my head and I just kept it together.
"It was really tough in some moments. I think it was just a great match. We had some great rallies. She's amazing player. She's amazing person. That was the tough part also. We know each other very well.
"I'm just very happy that I kept fighting in the important moments."
It's the sixth time in the last seven years Wimbledon crowned a maiden women's champion.
The unseeded Vondrousova was undaunted in the face of stifling pressure and that made all the difference.
Afterward, she summed up this amazing journey in one word: crazy.
"I would say 'crazy', for sure. As I said, I didn't play well before on grass," Vondrousova said. "When we were coming here, I was like, Okay, just play without stress, just try to win couple of matches. Then this happened.
"It's unbelievable. I think nobody would have told you this before when we were coming here that I even have a chance to win. I was unseeded. I mean, it's such a crazy journey.
"I can't believe it still."
An elated Vondrousova said she'll celebrate with family and beer before a big day tomorrow.
In addition to her wedding anniversary, Vondrousova will help her coach keep a bet he made to her long ago: To get a tattoo if she ever won a Grand Slam title.