LONDON — Vondrousova market always loved Wimbledon. So much so that she even attended the tournament as a fan in 2022 when a wrist injury kept her out.
Either way, in her mind, it never fell in love with her back.
In her previous four appearances at the All England Club, she’d never made it past the second round – and even that was only once. In fact, Vondrousova has never played well on grass anywhere, having only recorded a 2-10 record on the pitch before this season. She has too low expectations for herself in what she considers the most famous tennis tournament. she left her husband at their house in Prague to look after their cat instead of directly attending the event to cheer her on.
But on Saturday, Vondrousova’s love for Wimbledon was no longer one-sided. The 24-year-old was the first unseeded female player in the Open era to reach the final at the All England Club. make even more history by winning titles with a 6-4, 6-4 win first Ons Jabeuras Princess of Wales, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Andrew Garfield, Lin-Manuel Miranda and her husband look at Center Court.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Vondrousova said soon after. “After everything I’ve been through, this time last year I was in a cast, so [it’s] It’s amazing that I can stand here and keep this [trophy]. Tennis is crazy.”
Entering Wimbledon with 42nd place, Vondrousova is now leaving as world number 10 and champion in a place she never expected. Obviously still surprised by what just happened, she’s not entirely sure how she’s going to celebrate, but has said she’s taking her trainer Jan Mertl for a tattoo on Sunday to celebrate the occasion — he promised her he would if she won a major title — and maybe with a winning drink.
“I think I’ll have some beer,” she said to the cheers of the crowd. “What an exhausting couple of weeks.”
While Vondrousova was the only one to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish on Saturday, she’s far from the only woman to have a successful Wimbledon. Here are the other winners from two weeks.
Ons Jabeur
She didn’t win the title, but she had three unbelievable wins from behind against three Grand Slam champions over the course of two weeks, and now she’s played in two consecutive Wimbledon finals. . Jabeur was the fan favorite in the final, and those present cheered her on during and even after the match.
The 29-year-old, who has lost all three Grand Slam finals she attended, held back tears as she told the crowd it was the most painful loss of her career. But she still displayed her signature fighting spirit before leaving the field: “I promise one day I’ll come back and win this tournament.”
The 28-year-old returned from maternity leave in April and was a wild card (literally and figuratively) at the tournament. She surprised her by reaching the quarterfinals at the French Open last month, in the first Grand Slam of her comeback, and going one step further at the All England Club. Svitolina beat four major champions on the way to the semi-finals.
“I think she’s a more complete player now,” Caroline Wozniacki, who will return to competition next month after having two children, said. “What impressed me most was her mentality, the way she played freely on the court. I think that’s great, it’s great to see her resting and being able to play at this level, and it looks like she’s enjoying the sport more and is more aware of herself and the game.”
Svitolina has been candid about the war in her home country of Ukraine, and she says she competes not only for herself. She dug deep in back-to-back battles with Victoria Azarenca And Iga Swiatek and find another level. Svitolina said she is most proud of the “fighting spirit” she displays throughout.
In the end, she lost to Vondrousova in the semi-finals, but she was one of the tournament’s most compelling storylines — and went on to rise to the top. Dropping out of the top 1,000 in April and arriving in London at 76th, Svitolina is now number 27 in the world.
Iga Swiatek
When a player is world No. 1 and has won four major titles, it sounds odd to declare them the winner to reach the quarterfinals, but that was the case for the 22-year-old Swiatek. Still with limited grass-court experience, and after withdrawing before the semi-final at Bad Homburg due to stomach problems, Swiatek had the best result of his career at Wimbledon by reaching the last eight. together. She also scored one of the most impressive comeback wins of her career. Belinda Bencic in the fourth round.
✅It’s been a while since I wrote more than a few sentences here and maybe now is a good opportunity to explain.
✅ Minęła chwila odkąd pisałam tutaj coś dłuższego i może to dobry moment, żeby do tego wrócić.
️⤵️⤵️ pic.twitter.com/vze1p8NCMg
– Iga wiątek (@iga_swiatek) July 14, 2023
Swiatek said that the win gave her “belief” that she was making progress on the surface. “I’m glad I won it because I feel like I’m on the right track,” she added.
And, perhaps most of all, she managed to hold on to the top — until now — after Aryna Sabalenka lost in the semi-finals.
Let’s start with the obvious: Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, was unable to defend her title, and that was of course not the outcome she wanted. But Rybakina, 24, became the first defending champion since then Serena Williams in 2016 to even reach the 4th round at the All England Club. Rybakina played all of her matches on Center Court and was the focus of much attention and advertising. She handled the pressure with ease before losing to a worthy opponent in Jabeur in a repeat 2022 final. She also had to deal with a lingering virus for several weeks before arriving in London, putting her competitive status in doubt.
“It’s a new challenge for me to be the defending champion,” she said. “That’s of course [a] different feeling. Really proud of [the] the first few matches because it wasn’t easy. I can say that each game I played was a little bit better than the other. I think regardless of the outcome… it’s been a positive couple of weeks for me here.”
The last two American women, both Pegula and Keys, reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. This is Pegula’s first time reaching the final round of eight at the All England Club, and now she’s hit a major milestone in every major. This is Keys’ second time in the quarterfinals but her first since 2015.
Pegula, 29, walked into the neighborhood, only dropped one set on the street, and she was this about to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final. She had a break point to lead 5-1 in the decisive set against Vondrousova, and then everything fell apart. She couldn’t hide her disappointment after the match, but her resilient attitude and unmatched sense of humour never wavered.
“I’ll keep working,” Pegula said. “There’s no definite answer to everything to prove that would make me say, ‘Yes, for sure if I do this, I’ll win a Grand Slam, get to the semi-finals, get to the final, whatever it is.’ There’s nothing like it. I just keep telling myself to put myself in a good position, keep getting better and work.”
For 28-year-old Keys, it has been a successful and productive grass-court season overall. She won her first title of the season at Eastbourne and went on a nine-game winning streak before falling to Sabalenka in the round. She recovered from a set and took it 4-1 first Mirra Andreeva in the fourth round to win a tough one that reminds everyone why she’s still one of the WTA’s most formidable — and most experienced — foes.
The 21-year-old Ukrainian player had one of the most emotional victories of his career against the 8th seed maria sakkari in the opening round. After being defeated in the first set and experiencing two separate rain pauses, she came back to win 0-6, 7-5, 6-2. She fell to her knees and sobbed after winning.
“It was my 15th attempt to defeat [a] players in the top 10,” Kostyuk later explained during her press conference, “Yes, that is, I have to check my list. I’m glad that pressure has been lifted off my shoulders.”
A change is simply noticeable@marta_kostyuk beat the excellent 8th seed Maria Sakkari to win tickets to the 2nd round with the score 0-6, 7-5, 6-2#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/zGieUfKTLz
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2023
Kostyuk eventually made it to the third round, her best ever at Wimbledon, and reached the quarterfinals in mixed doubles.
Mirra Andreeva
That’s been an amazing increase for the 16-year-old over the past few months. After receiving a wildcard at the Madrid Open and surprising herself by reaching the fourth round, she qualified at the French Open to make it to the 32nd round. She then played even better at Wimbledon. . In her first tournament on the field, she again qualified and advanced to the fourth round – which included a victory over the 2021 French Open champion and the 10th seed. Barbora Krejcikova in the second round — before falling to Keys.
It seems clear, even to her opponents, that Andreeva’s future in the sport is bright.
“I think she moves incredibly well, especially with a younger player. You don’t usually see them being able to get in and out of the corner the way I saw her do today,” Keys said after the game. their. “Honestly, I think she served better today than me. I was very impressed with her serve. Overall, I think she had a very solid game. Obviously it was. will improve over time.”
It has been a difficult journey for 24-year-old Kenin since winning the 2020 Australian Open. There have been injuries, an emergency appendectomy and a match with COVID-19 . Her rank plummeted. This time last year she was ranked 426th in the world.
But she has made some progress this season. She came to Wimbledon with 128th place and needed to qualify for the main draw. She entered the challenge – then defeated the 7th seed Coco Gauff in the first round. She continued that with winning consecutive sets in the second round before losing to Svitolina in the third round. While it still hasn’t made it as far as a major as Kenin knows she can, it’s certainly still a big step in the right direction.
“It’s great to see her back,” said Pam Shriver, former player and current analyst for ESPN. “She was definitely one of the best stories early in the tournament. She played really well and it will be interesting to see what she does from here on out.”
The 37-year-old tennis player retired from sports in May 2021 while pregnant with her first child. She announced that she would be returning earlier this year to end her career on her own terms and she officially returned to Madrid in April. A singles semi-finalist and 2019 Wimbledon doubles champion, Strycova has made the most of what she has said was her last Wimbledon. In addition to reaching the second round in singles, she will compete for the doubles title alongside Hsieh Su-wei on Sunday.
What a way to win!
A frantic finish for 2019 champions Su-Wei Hsieh and Barbora Strycova, finalists in Women’s Doubles at #Wimbledon once again pic.twitter.com/vT2U9YlT98
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2023
