Unseeded Vondrousova claims Wimbledon title

LONDON — Marketa Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon in a stunning 6-4, 6-4 upset over No. 6 Ons Jabeur on Saturday.

“After everything I’ve been through, it’s amazing I can stand here and hold this,” Vondrousova said while holding the championship trophy on court after the match. “Tennis is crazy.”

Once a top-15 player and 2019 French Open finalist, Vondrousova, a lefty, has been hampered by injuries and pain in her left wrist. She underwent multiple surgeries in the three years that followed her Roland Garros run, and last year, she attended Wimbledon as a tourist with a cast on her left arm. She traveled to London with her sister to cheer on her best friend, Miriam Kolodziejova, unsure when she would return to the tournament as a player.

“The comebacks aren’t easy,” Vondrousova said. “You never know what to expect. I was playing small tournaments and hoped to come back at this level.”

The 24-year-old from the Czech Republic is ranked 42nd in the world and becomes the lowest-ranked woman to win at the All England Club, and the first unseeded woman to reach the final in 60 years.

Billie Jean King, the last unseeded woman to make the Wimbledon final (she lost to Margaret Court in 1963), watched Vondrousova’s win from the Royal Box, seated between the Princess of Wales and nine-time Wimbledon winner Martina Navratilova.

Though Vondrousova was the underdog coming into the final, she had already beaten Jabeur twice this year, including in the second round of the Australian Open in January. From Saturday’s opening set, Vondrousova played with poise, while Jabeur appeared tense and overwhelmed by Vondrousova’s power.

In that first set, Vondrousova was 3-for-4 on break-point opportunities and committed just six unforced errors, while Jabeur failed to capitalize on five of her seven break-point opportunities and committed 15 unforced errors.

Despite trailing in each set, Vondrousova closed out both on runs — winning the final four games to win the first set and the last three games to close out the match.

For Jabeur, this was another Grand Slam letdown. A finalist here last year, as well as at the US Open in September, she finished as the runner-up in both instances. This year, Jabeur had come to Wimbledon on a mission. Instead, she lost in 1 hour, 20 minutes for her third Grand Slam final defeat in 370 days.

“I think this is the most painful loss of my career,” Jabeur said on court Saturday as her tears flowed. “It’s going to be a tough day for me today, but I am going to come back stronger and win a Grand Slam. I promise to win this tournament.”

Over six matches this fortnight, Jabeur had defeated four former Grand Slam champions, three top-10 players and two of the so-called “women’s Big Three” to earn her second shot at the Venus Rosewater Dish.

Instead, the moment belonged to Vondrousova, a player who before Thursday had garnered more coverage for her tattoos and the absence of her husband, Stepan Simek, who was at home taking care of their hairless cat, Frankie.

Then she beat Donna Vekic, a dangerous player on grass; American Jessica Pegula, the No. 4 player in the world; and Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina, the feel-good story of the tournament who returned to competition in April after giving birth to her first child in October. After a stretch like that, Vondrousova’s family, at least, started to believe.

Thursday night, they called in a cat-sitter.

Saturday, her sister and husband watched from the players’ box when she did something no woman had done at Wimbledon. When she hit her final volley to win the match, Vondrousova dropped to the grass, her face wet with emotion. She met Jabeur at the net and then climbed into the stands and was embraced by her family, Simek among them.

Sunday is the couple’s first wedding anniversary.