Marketa Vondrousova has been crowned the Wimbledon champion after defeating Ons Jabeur in straight sets 6-4 6-4 to become the first unseeded women's singles champion at the All England Lawn Tennis Club on Saturday.
Vondrousova has been a pleasure to watch over the past two weeks, playing some remarkable tennis to claim her first major title. Jabeur had looked unstoppable throughout her run to the final and Vondrousova disposed of her in the final with relative ease - that is some achievement.
Of course she headed into this match having a psychological advantage over the number six seed, having beaten her at the Australian Open at Indian Wells in 2023. From the way she defended and attacked against Jabeur it was clear to see why Jabeur has found it extremely difficult to beat her of late.
This was only Vondrousova’s second Grand Slam final appearance and it had been four years since her first taste of a major final at the French Open in 2019. The Czech has had to work incredibly hard to get back into such a position and her tennis has been captivating throughout this historic run to the tournament showpiece on Centre Court.
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Jabeur looked to take a hold of the match early with a two-game lead. She was outsmarting Vondrousova and her experience from last year’s final heartbreak seemed to be setting her up for how to attack her opponent on this occasion. Vondrousova quickly responded to halve the deficit and showed her resilience to take the third game after a couple of deuce points. The fourth match went the same way which she also prevailed and she was making sure she was giving Jabeur things to think about.
The Tunisian was able to regain a foothold and break to a 4-2 lead but once again Vondrousova responded to take three games on the bounce with a chance to claim the opening set as the match was comfortably in her control.
Jabeur looked troubled in the break before the 10th game of the set and it translated onto the court as Vondrousova won the game without Jabeur picking up a point to win the set. It was an excellent showing from the history-making finalist and Jabeur walked off court to have a real think about the second set - she only picked up one point in the final four games of the set.
After losing five games in a row, Jabeur was able to take the second game of the second set after being 40-0 down. The roar from the crowd, and her own celebration will have given her a much-needed boost.
It looked like the Tunisian was getting into her rhythm as she took a 3-1 lead, but there were some more twists and turns along the way with Vondrousova pulling back to 3-3. Not many players could frustrate Jabeur at Wimbledon as much as she did. That is what makes the Czech such a formidable opponent, she prevents players from getting into a dominant rhythm and it was leaving Jabeur stumped.
Vondrousova had her opponent rattled and it made it much easier for her to wrap up the second set and win the Championship as thunderous applause echoed around Centre Court as he fell to the floor in disbelief.
As for Jabeur, she has now tasted Wimbledon final defeat for the second year running which will be a crushing blow. It will be interesting to see how she bounces back from this one in the coming months.
