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.
