Here is a sentence one didn’t envision writing a day ago, much less at the start of the tournament: Markéta Vondroušová is your 2023 Wimbledon women’s singles champion.
The 24-year-old Czech was not seeded at the start of the event, in fact coming into this season her record on grass was 2–10. Never mind, she played the tournament of her life, winning by far the biggest title of her career. In today’s final she beat a nervous Ons Jabeur of Tunisia—more on that later—in straight sets, 6–4, 6–4.
While the casual tennis fan will wonder about this upset—and it is true, she is the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to win the title—hardcore tennis fans know her a bit better. She was the finalist in Roland Garros in 2019 and won an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo. Here she has been a spectacular player, bringing her combination of angles and power to the grass. She culminated a seven-match win streak here by taking down last year’s finalist with a combination of poise and patience.
Alastair Grant/AP Photo
That said, some titles are seized, others are in part donated by the opposition. This falls into that category. This will be a devastating defeat for Jabeur. Playing in her third major final in the past year, she was the overwhelming favorite. After seizing a 4–2 lead in the first set, she simply vanished, she only won two more points the rest of the first set. It was a bit of foreshadowing for what came next, she had a 3–1 lead in the second set and again faltered. The wit and whimsy that usually categorizes her game was nowhere in evidence, instead there were nerves in abundance that were reflected in the stat sheet. A composed veteran player, she committed 31 errors and had her serve broken more than she held.
In the end, this won’t much matter. This was Vondroušová’s title, whether the opponent was at her best or not. Before the tournament, she had a record of 2–10 on grass and was the No. 7 ranked Czech player. When she wakes up tomorrow, she will be a top-ten player in the world. And for whatever else may or may not happen for the rest of her career, she will always be a Wimbledon singles champion.
