In a tennis match, there are usually a lot of these moments when the path forks. Where one path leads to great victory, the other to devastating defeat. It was the same this Saturday when Czech Marketa Vondrousova and Tunisian Ons Jabeur faced each other in the Wimbledon final. With the special feature that the paths of both players crossed several times before, at the end of a changeable duel, Vondrousova was able to lift the winner’s trophy, the famous Venus Rosewater Dish.
“I don’t know what’s happening here right now,” the 24-year-old stammered after her 6: 4, 6: 4 win on the famous Center Court. “Last year I was there with an arm cast, now I’m standing here. Tennis is crazy!” Meanwhile, Jabeur spoke of the “most painful defeat of my career”. “I can only tell you: I will keep trying. At some point it will work.”
The 28-year-old Jabeur went into the duel as a favorite. She had already reached the final at Wimbledon last year and this time defeated three top ten players on her way there again. Vondrousova, on the other hand, had already contested the final of the French Open in 2019 and won Olympic silver a year later in Tokyo. In the world rankings she was only 42nd after a few injuries – including the wrist a year ago – but before the tournament.
The momentum changes
Jabeur started strong, but early in the match there was the first small turning point. With the second break of the day she could have pulled away to 3:1. She had earned the chance to do so in a spectacular rally and the next time she basically only had to use her good preliminary work. Then the ball danced on the edge of the net and fell back into Jabeur’s half. Debut instead of break. Vondrousova won her service and a little later the first set as well.
Consolation from the Princess: Ons Jabeur (left) and the Princess of Wales : Image: Reuters
Jabeur then disappeared into the toilet for about five minutes. Probably mainly to collect himself to fight against defeat with a new focus. The start failed, but after a service loss, Jabeur regained momentum. Cheered enthusiastically by almost all of the 15,000 spectators on Center Court, she soon led 4:2. After that, however, she did not win a single game.
There were phases in this match when Jabeur won wonderful points with the entire repertoire of her striking art. Then she sent her opponent from left to right to complete with a considered finish. But then there were phases, too many phases ultimately, when she gave Vondrousova so many points from simple mistakes that she didn’t have to do much except bring the balls back in a pretty straight line. Jabeur made 31 avoidable mistakes in the end, while Vondrousova made 13.
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And so this match ended after just 80 minutes with a winner sobbing on the pitch and a loser sobbing in her chair. The path that forked led only one of them to historic success. For the third time, Jabeur has failed to become the first African woman to win a Grand Slam tournament. Vondrousova, on the other hand, is the first unseeded player to win at Wimbledon in the professional tennis era.