Marketa Vondrousova has become the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon women’s title, earning a shock 6-4 6-4 win over Ons Jabeur in the final.
Vodrousova lifted her first grand slam title just a year since she visited Wimbledon as a tourist with her racquet wrist in plaster after a second bout of surgery which she feared might threaten her career.
But for Jabeur, who’d been seeking to become the first north African and Arab woman grand slam winner in history, there was nothing but misery as she under-performed dreadfully.
After her third grand slam final defeat, including last year’s final, Jabeur ended up breaking down in tears in the post-match on-court interview, saying: “This is the most painful loss of my career.”
But for the 24-year-old Vondrousova, there was nothing but joy in following in the illustrious path of previous Czech winners like Martina Navratilova, who was a Centre Court spectator.
(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
So was Billie Jean King, the last unseeded woman finalist who lost that match 60 years ago. In all, four unseeded women had previously reached a final, but none had won.
“I don’t know what’s happening now, it’s such an amazing feeling. After everything I’ve been through, it’s amazing I can stand here as champion. Tennis is crazy,” beamed Vondrousova.
“I don’t really know – comebacks aren’t easy, you never know what to expect. I hoped I could come back at this level.”
Vondrousova, who’d reached the 2019 French Open final before her wrist problems, had trailed in each set but took the last four games of the first, then the final three games of the second as Jabeur appeared hugely dispirited by her inability to get to grips with the Czech’s tricky game which gave her no rhythm.
“I think I’m going to have some beer, it’s been an exhausting two weeks,” said Vondrousova.
© AAP
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