Marketa Vondrousova beats Ons Jabeur to become first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon title

If you look at Marketa Vondrousova's 2022 Wimbledon results now, Google won't have one. Exactly a year back, the Czech was still in a cast having recently undergone a wrist surgery on her left hand. But she was in London, to support her friend, Swedish player Mirjam Bjorklund, who was part of the qualifiers for the first time. 12 months later, she has carved herself in Wimbledon history with a stunning 6-4, 6-4 win over No.6 seed Ons Jabeur. On Saturday, on the iconic Centre Court, Vondrousova became the first ever unseeded women's singles player in the history of Open Era to lift the coveted Venus Rosewater Dish.

None had even considered Vondrousova as a title contender, let alone be a threat for the top players on the tour. She didn't have a decent grass court result to make her case heading to the All England Club, having suffered a third-round exit in Berlin before pulling out of Eastbourne International with an injury. And her best ever result at Wimbledon was a second-round appearance in 2021, after three first-round exits between 2017 and 2019.

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Vondrousova, however, took everyone by surprise as she came out of the top half of the draw after beating four seeded players in six matches, with her toughest win coming against world no.4 Jessica Pegula in the quarters. It was her first Top 5 win on grass.

Despite the feat and of being the first unseeded woman in the Wimbledon final in 60 years since Bille Jean King (1963), she was the heavy underdog against last year's runner up Jabeur. But ice-cool Vondrousova scripted an upset on Centre Court to clinch her maiden Grand Slam title in her second attempt after losing to Ash Barty in the 2019 French Open final.

“I don’t know what is happening, it is an amazing feeling. Ons congratulations, you are such an inspiration for us. I hope you win some day, you are an amazing person. After everything I have been through it is amazing I can stand here and hold this. Tennis is crazy! The comebacks aren’t easy you don’t know what to expect, I was hoping I could get back to this level and now this is happening. Thank you to my box, my little sister she is crying! I mean it is amazing, tomorrow is our first wedding anniversary. It’s great to have you guys here, I enjoyed the two weeks so much," said the world no.42.

How Vondrousova denied Jabeur's moment in history

The Tunisian's dream of being the first ever Arab and African Grand Slam winner continued at the the SW19 in 2023. She was denied at the very Centre Court last year by Elena Rybakina and then by Iga Swiatek later in US Open. But Jabeur gave herself another shot at history, but crumbled under pressure.

Jabeur held the break-of-serve lead twice in the first set before the unseeded Czech bounced back to win 16 of the last 18 points, and four straight games, to grab the opening set 6-4. Jabeur, despite showing remarkable improvement on serve compared to her campaign in 2022, put on a disappointing show on Saturday as she was broken thrice in the opening set. Vondrousova, showing more composure amid the hostile Centre Court conditions, absorbed 11 winners from the Tunisian, but drew 15 unforced errors as well.

Jabeur bounced back early in the second set, as she did against Rybakina in the quarterfinal clash and against Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal meeting, taking a 3-1 lead. But the Czech was solid on defense as she broke back immediately and levelled the score to 3-all before getting a crucial break in the ninth game, courtesy of two loose forehands from Jabeur and eventually served out the match.

With the win, Vondrousova became the fifth left-handed player to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon in the Open Era, after Ann Jones, Martina Navratilova, Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber and the third female Czech player after Jana Novotna (1998) and Petra Kvitova (2011 and 2014) to win at SW19. She also became the lowest-ranked player (#42) to win the women’s singles title since the WTA Rankings were introduced.

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