London, July 15 Unseeded Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic won the first Grand Slam title of her career after defeating No.6 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the 2023 Wimbledon final, here on Saturday.
Vondrousova, who is ranked 42nd in the world, handled the nerves of the occasion better than World No.6 Jabeur to win 6-4, 6-4 in the final, which lasted for 80 minutes on Centre Court.
With this, Vondrousova became the first unseeded Wimbledon champion in the Open Era, the second ever, after Billie Jean King (1963). The 24-year-old was the second-lowest ranked player to win here, after Serena Williams in 2018.
Notably, Vondrousova, a year ago, was a spectator at the All England Club with a cast on her left wrist.
"I don’t really know what’s happening right now. It's an amazing feeling. I had a cast last year this time. This is amazing I can stand here," Vondrousova told the Centre Court crowd after her win. "Tennis is crazy," she added.
With the title, Vondrousova is projected to make her Top-10 debut, at World No.10, in Monday's new rankings.
Meanwhile, Martina Navratilova, beaming in the Royal Box, saw yet another left-hander from the Czech Republic capture the Wimbledon title, following herself (nine) and Petra Kvitova (two).
On the other hand, Jabeur has now lost all three major finals she has played in. "This is very, very tough. I think this is the most painful loss of my career," she said.
A year ago, Jabeur lost the Wimbledon final to Elena Rybakina and the US Open final to Iga Swiatek.
The 28-year-old Jabeur defeated four Grand Slam singles champions in order on the way to the final -- Bianca Andreescu, Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka.
The last three were Top 10 players, all big hitters, and Jabeur was able to deflect their power with a nimble defense and an array of slices and drop shots. But Vondrousova was a different kind of player, like Jabeur, a disruptor.
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