It ended in tears in a dramatic awards ceremony for her: Ons Jabeur failed to win the title at Wimbledon again this year. The stakes for the Tunisian player were high: it is not often that she gets the opportunity to become the first African able to conquer a Grand Slam tournament and write the history of an entire continent.
Everyone was ready to celebrate an unprecedented success, to pay the right tribute to an extraordinary tennis player. All except Marketa Vondrousova, who could not have chosen a better stage to win the first Grand Slam of her career and become the third Czech player, after Jana Novotna and Petra Kvitova, to dominate the All England Club lawns.
The Czech defeated an unrecognizable Jabeur with a clear 6-4, 6-4.
An achievement unimaginable a few years ago. Indeed, after reaching her first Grand Slam final at the Roland Garros in 2019, Vondrousova was forced to undergo two surgeries on her left wrist.
A journey full of pitfalls that hides a strength of resilience that is difficult to find in a common personality. The lowest-ranked tennis player ever to win the Championships defeated five seeds to lift the coveted trophy to the sky: the last to accomplish the feat was countrywoman Barbora Krejcikova in Paris in 2021.
In the interview during the awards ceremony, Ons could not hold back tears, saying bitterly:Ā “This is the most painful loss of my career.”
Here is the video shared by the Wimbledon YouTube page:
The match
Tension reigned supreme at the start of the match: both made two serious mistakes with the forehand on the first chances given to their rival. Jabeur, despite her pressure, twice took the lead by one break.
The Tunisian played too hastily in the central phase of the opening set and ended up conceding the counter break to zero in the seventh game. Vondrousova took advantage of the favorable moment, responded blow by blow, and surprised the opponent again in response on 4-4 thanks to a free backhand finished under the net.
When she served to close the first set, the Czech didn’t tremble even for a second. The second half of the game opened with the third consecutive innings lost by Jabeur, who however reacted by taking up 3-1 thanks to a forehand sent over the baseline by the Czech.
The slice betrayed the Tunisian in the most delicate moment and offered Vondrousova the chance to even the score again. Still bad with Jabeur’s forehand on the break point which definitively opened the way for Vondrousova, once again impeccable in closing.