The 42nd racket of the world Czech Marketa Vondrousova won Wimbledon

The winner of the Wimbledon tournament in women’s singles was the representative of the Czech Republic, Marketa Vondrousova, who, occupying only 42nd place in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rating, outplayed the sixth racket of the world Uns Jabir from Tunisia in two games in 80 minutes. The newly minted champion became the first athlete to win the most prestigious tennis competition, being in such a low position in the rankings.

Czech women’s tennis, with its excellent school and rich traditions, has always been stable. And now in the top fifty of the world ranking of Czechs, there are the most – eight. It is not surprising that in the last two Grand Slam tournaments, it was they who became the main troublemakers. But if Karolina Muchova at Roland Garros only got close to the title, failing to defeat the first racket of the world Iga Swiatek in the final, then Marketa Vondrousova sensationally won it at Wimbledon. Yes, on account of the 24-year-old left-hander from the city of Sokolov, there were finals – Roland Garros 2019 and the Tokyo Olympics. But, of course, she was absent even in the second tier of contenders for victory in London, where she had not previously gone beyond the third round. In addition, Wimbledon has not yet had a champion who would start the tournament only in 42nd place in the WTA rankings. By the way, now the heroine of the day will close the top ten, displacing Daria Kasatkina from there.

The final of Vondrousova against Uns Jabir, which lasted exactly 80 minutes and ended with a score of 6:4, 6:4, was, of course, not the fastest final of the legendary competition. But not the longest either. Although for the best tennis player in Africa in history, this defeat was unbearable. For too long, she cherished the dream of a Wimbledon triumph and did too much for him. Jabir became the first tennis player to win three strong-willed victories on the way to the Wimbledon final, losing the first games. Moreover, in the previous four matches, her rivals were the former champions of the majors – Canadian Bianca Andreescu, Czech Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan and Belarusian Arina Sobolenko.

Such series are fraught with emotional burnout, and in the final the Tunisian was not like herself. She started well, but then seemed to drown in her own desires and, having led first 2:0, and then 4:2, took only two points in the final four games of the first set. The second batch was similar. Jabir again seized the advantage – 3: 1, and immediately lost it with her numerous mistakes on the right hand, which she repeatedly performed with a black face from tension, on heavy legs from fatigue. And her talented rival, using the trump card that all left-handers have on the grass, using an oblique serve to the second square, was calm, self-confident and fast enough. Having coped on Friday in the semi-final in 75 minutes with Ukrainian Elina Svitolina and being a clear outsider of the final, she had enough physical strength left and retained more emotions.

The statistics speak eloquently about what happened on the court. Jabir’s first serve hit rate fell short of 50 percent, while Vondrousova, better attuning to key plays, won six out of seven break points.

The ratio of actively won points and unforced errors is 25:31 for Jabir and 10:13 for Vondrousova. In such cases, it is usually believed that one tennis player burned out.

In any case, having lost last year’s three-set Wimbledon final to Elena Rybakina, and then losing without options to Sventek in the US Open final, Jabir has already lost six sets in a row in the decisive matches of the majors. So the tears that streamed from her eyes before the awards ceremony are quite understandable.

But after all, exactly 30 years ago, Czech Jan Novotna sobbed exactly the same way on Center Court after her defeat from Steffi Graf, who in 1998 will still achieve her goal and win her third final at Wimbledon. So, it is quite likely that Jabir is still ahead.

And Markete Vondrousova, a tennis player of her own, who was injured and got married last season at Wimbledon, should not be too deluded by the ease of her magnificent victory, even if it brought her £2.35 million. much harder than doing it the first time. For example, Barbora Kreichikova, compatriot Vondrousova, who, after her triumph at Roland Garros 2021, only once reached the quarterfinals at the Grand Slam tournaments, was convinced of this long ago.

Evgeny Fedyakov