Unseeded Marketa Vondrousova Becomes Wimbledon’s First Female Champion

(CTN News) – Marketa Vondrousova came to the All England Club last year unable to play tennis. Her trip to London was limited to sightseeing and cheering on a friend at Wimbledon due to her cast on the surgically repaired left wrist.

Her Grand Slam victory makes this trip even more memorable.

The final was won by Vondrousova 6-4, 6-4 over 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur.

Marketa Vondrousova, a Czech left-hander who won the French Open on clay as a teenager and the Tokyo Olympics two years ago on concrete courts, said she was uncertain what would happen when she returned. In the past, I didn’t play well on grass.

The Grand Slam was the most impossible one for me to win, so I didn’t even consider it. The only thing I said when I came was, “Try to win a few matches.” Now look at what happened. That’s crazy.”

As a result of an injury that prevented her from participating in most of last season, she finished 99th. She was the first unseeded player to reach Wimbledon’s final in 60 years – Billie Jean King, the runner-up in 1963, sat alongside Kate, Princess of Wales, in the Royal Box on Saturday.

“First unseeded ever!” King told Marketa Vondrousova after the match. It’s great.”

In the final, Vondrousova’s smooth strokes found the intended mark repeatedly with the retractable roof closed. Playing on indoor courts in Prague during winters, without the worry of gusts or the sun, was enjoyable to her – a reminder of practicing on indoor courts during the winter.

Vondrousova said she always plays well indoors. I thought, “Yeah, that might help.””

This afternoon, she fell to Jabeur 0-3 after trailing in each set but winning the final four games in each.

Neither an Arab nor a North African woman has reached that stage at a Grand Slam tournament in singles.

According to the sixth-seeded Jabeur, “things don’t happen by force.”

In the All England Club 12 months ago, she lost to Elena Rybakina, and in the U.S. Women’s Open a year ago.

In tears, Jabeur said Saturday, “I think this is my most painful loss.”.

At the beginning of this week, Vondrousova’s surge to the Slam title seemed impossible.

Prior to that run, she had been 1-4 on Wimbledon’s grass, making it only once as far as the second round.

Jabeur, who admitted to feeling pressure, kept making mistakes: She finished with 31 unforced errors, while Vondrousova had only 13.

Marketa Vondrousova overcame 4-2 deficits in the first set and 3-1 and 4-3 in the second. Applause and shouts ricocheted off the cover of the arena as the crowd embraced Jabeur, nicknamed the Minister of Happiness for her demeanor on and off the court.

Keeping her composure down the stretch, Marketa Vondrousova broke for a 5-4 lead and served for the victory. The enormity of the moment hit her soon after she was up 40-love.

Marketa Vondrousova said, “I couldn’t breathe.”. My thought was, “Just be over.”.”

As she reached for a volley to end the match, she had fallen to the grass, laid on her back, and covered her face with her hands.

After watching the final from England, she climbed into the stands to hug her husband, who had been home cat-sitting until then. In honor of their first wedding anniversary on Sunday, Marketa Vondrousova joked that his tears of joy at match’s end were his most emotional moment in eight years.

On her first full day as a major title winner, Vondrousova plans to get tattoos with her coach.

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