The fate has it this way: Elena Rybakina, a tennis player born, raised and living in Moscow, from 2018 with a Kazakh passport, won the edition of Wimbledon 2022 which had banned Russian and Belarusian players, and right after the fall of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Rybakina, following the usual way of doing her, does not rejoice except with a smile when Ons Jabeur misses her answer that closes her game by consecrating her as Wimbledon champion for 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 at 23 years.
Jabeur’s initial advantage
The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, in a bright yellow, rewards the two finalists at the end of a match in which the Tunisian, 27 years old and number 2 in the world, had brought home the first set in 32 minutes, taking advantage of free mistakes of his opponent. Which, then, slowly grew, imposing her offensive play, supported by a heavy serve (she is 1.84 tall). The talented Jabeur tried to defuse the violent forehand of the Muscovite (seeded number 17, 23rd in the ranking, reached the final after getting rid of Simona Halep with a sharp 6-3, 6-3), unleashing her short balls and his insidious cut shots, but it wasn’t enough.
Rybakina takes the chair
Rybakina, after having made the break at the opening of the second set, leads the dance, preventing the return of the opponent who does not take the opportunity to catch her three even in the second set, and the 4-2 quickly becomes a 6-2. In the third set the same script is repeated, with the 23-year-old who breaks the serve in the first game of the set, recovers from 0-40 at 3-2 – serving well and playing three perfect points – and ends the match in souplesse.
The first final of a Grand Slam
For both Jabeur and Rybakina it was the first Grand Slam final. The Tunisian said she did not play her best tennis and acknowledged that her opponent “deserved to win”, but she is satisfied, she knows she is a “source of inspiration for the new generations” of her country and looks to the next goals. , with a special eye on the US Open. “I still don’t believe what I did. I was very tense, even this morning, then I concentrated point by point, ”said an excited Rybakina at the press conference, giving in to tears at one point. When she asks about her being she snores about her, and what is her position on the war, she replies like this: “I represent Kazakhstan, I have not chosen where to be born. Kazakhstan supported me a lot, even today I heard the fans and saw the flags ”.
Tomorrow the men’s final
Tomorrow at three on the central will play the final Nole Djokovic, in search of his 21st Slam and his seventh success at Wimbledon, and Nick Kyrgios, who had never reached the final of a Grand Slam. A match that no one would ever have hypothesized to see and which nevertheless promises to be promising.