Markéta Vondroušová collapsed onto the court of the All-England Club as soon as she beat Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final. It was a moment of pure disbelief for the unseeded 24-year-old from Czechia after she took down the No. 6 Tunisian.
Vondroušová, who a watched Wimbledon as a spectator a year ago, rallied back to win both sets in the 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jabeur.
Everything started out well for Jabeur, but seventeen unforced errors by the Tunisan in the opening set allowed Vondroušová to overcome a 2-4 deficit and take the lead.
Momentum appeared to shifted dramatically in Jabeur's favor during the second game of the second set whehen s hit two sensational shots to get to 40-30: a backhand winner followed by a forehand winner.
Jabeur took a three-sets-to-one lead soon after but, as she did in the first set, Vondroušová re-took control of the match.
Vondroušová won back-to-back games to draw even with Jabeur, then another to up 5-4 before one final game for the title. Finally, she cruised almost perfectly towards victory in the final game to become the first unseeded player to win Wimbledon and the first Czech women's singles Wimbledon winner since Petra Kvitová in 2014.
"I don't know what is happening, it is an amazing feeling," Vondroušová said after the match. "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."
As for Jabeur, she will once again be a bridesmaid but not the bride. The 28-year-old Tunisian looked defeated at times throughout the match with too many unforced errors. And now, for the fourth time in the past seven Grand Slams, Jabeur failed to win in the title match.
She lost the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals in 2022 and most recently lost in the quarterfinals at the 2023 French Open. But Jabeur began to exorcise those demons throughout this tournament after beat three top-10 opponents on her path to the final (the first since Serena Williams) which included a quarterfinal win over Elena Rybakina, who beat Jabeur at Wimbledon a year ago.
But it wasn't enough, and Jabeur didn't try to hide her sadness after the loss. She also didn't shy away from hope, either.
"I think this is the most painful loss of my career," she said. "I promise I'll come back one day and win this tournament."
