Marketa Vondrousova was victorious as she triumphed at Wimbledon 2023, as she became the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon in the Open era, while Ons Jabeur came up short once again in her third Grand Slam final in a 6-4 6-4 defeat.
Vondrousova joyfully celebrated an unexpected win on the very biggest stage in a hot contest that lasted for one hour and 20 minutes,
The unseeded Czech recovered from a slow start to take the opening set in decisive fashion, and despite a fleeting setback, she held her composure admirably to close out the victory and claim her maiden Grand Slam title, Eurosport reports.
It was Jabeur’s third Grand Slam final after she did not quite manage to get over the line at SW19 and the US Open last year, while Vondrousova was the runner-up at Roland-Garros in 2019.
The more experienced Jabeur started the brightest with a cluster of crisp groundstrokes doing the early damage to secure a break of serve as her opponent took some time to settle on Centre Court.
Vondrousova would not be contained for long, however, as she began to find some rhythm from the back of the court and on serve to roar back and get on terms once more.
A further break of serve followed for the 24-year-old Czech as Jabeur wavered crucially at the business end of the opening set, and she closed it out very impressively to establish her command of the match.
Jabeur had to respond swiftly at the start of the second set, but the sixth seed looked sluggish and burdened as she lost her serve immediately.
If it briefly felt as though it could be a decisive blow to the Tunisian’s hopes, she roared straight back with an inspired break of serve to draw level as the Centre Court crowd urged her to extend the match.
Indeed, she responded to being implored to battle back in a big way as she won three games on the bounce. Suddenly, she had a spring in her step.
It would have been very easy for Vondrousova to lose confidence with her advantage steadily eroding, but she found a succession of rasping strokes to seize back the initiative as Jabeur’s serve again proved to be vulnerable.
Serving for the Championship was expected to be hugely challenging for a player without a major title to her name, but she demonstrated remarkable composure to close it out.
It proved to be another crushing disappointment for Jabeur, who now has three Grand Slam finals to her name but no silverware to show for her immense efforts, but the day belonged to a stunned and delighted Vondrousova.
“I’m going to look ugly in the photos,” Jabeur said as she struggled to fight back tears in making a typically gracious speech.
“It will be tough to speak because this is very tough. I think this is the most painful loss of my career. It’s going to be a tough day today but I am not going to give up. We’re going to make it one day, I promise you.”
Vondrousova, after paying tribute to her beaten opponent and promising to get another tattoo to mark the moment, said: “Ons congratulations, you are such an inspiration to all of us. I hope you will win one day, you are an amazing person.
“After everything I have been through, I had a cast last time, it’s amazing I can stand here and hold this. Tennis is crazy. I don’t know how I’ve done it.
“The comebacks are not easy you never know what to expect. I was hoping I could comeback to this level and now I am here.”
