LONDON: Czech Marketa Vondrousova left Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur heart-broken once again as she claimed a historic victory on Saturday to become the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon women’s singles title.

The 24-year-old left-hander, who needed wrist surgery a year ago, upset the odds as she powered to a 6-4, 6-4 victory on Centre Court over the error-strewn sixth seed Jabeur, who ended up as runner-up as she did in 2022, and clinched an unexpected maiden Grand Slam title at the second attempt after losing to Ash Barty in the 2019 French Open final.

“After everything I have been through, I had a cast last time, it’s amazing I can stand here and hold this trophy,” said Vondrousova. “I don’t know how I’ve done it. Tennis is crazy.”

Vondrousova joins Jana Novotna and Petra Kvitova as the only Czech women to win a Wimbledon title. She is just the ninth unseeded champion at a Grand Slam tournament and also the sixth successive first-time winner of the women’s crown.

Vondrousova’s triumph completed a remarkable comeback after a rash of injuries stalled her promising career.

Just 12 months ago, she was an injured bystander at Wimbledon, reduced to watching her best friend Miriam Kolodziejova attempt to qualify for the main draw.

Vondrousova’s second wrist surgery had ruled the Olympic silver medallist out for six months, although her absence from the tour at least allowed her the space and time to get married.

“The comebacks are not easy. You never know what to expect,” she said. “I was hoping I could come back to this level and now I am here. It’s an amazing feeling.”

At 42 in the world, she was the second-lowest ranked player to reach the Wimbledon final — only Serena Williams in 2018 was lower at 181.

So unexpected was her run that she told her husband Stepan Simek to stay at home in Prague to look after their cat Frankie until the final, when a pet sitter was found to allow her partner to make the trip to Wimbledon.

“It’s amazing, tomorrow is our first wedding anniversary,” said Vondrousova, who had a dismal record on grass prior to this year’s Wimbledon. “I think I’m going to have some beer. It’s been an exhausting few weeks.”

Vondrousova had managed to win only one match in her previous four visits to Wimbledon and last year came with her wrist in a plaster cast to support a friend and go shopping.

But she beat four seeds during the fortnight, including number four Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals and Ukraine’s crowd darling Elina Svitolina in the semis.

The tattooed Vondrousova has a fondness for body art and her victory means coach Jan Mertl has to get inked as well. “I made a bet with my coach. He said if I win a Grand Slam he’s going to get one also. So I think we’re going to go tomorrow!” she said.

Jabeur, beaten by Elena Rybakina last year and by Iga Swiatek in the 2022 U.S. Open final, was bidding to become the first Arab player to win a Grand Slam title and the first African woman to lift one of the four major trophies.

But she was well below her best with 31 unforced errors killing her chances of a victory that would have been a milestone moment for women’s sport.

“This is the most painful loss of my career,” the crowd favourite said as she fought back tears. “Today is going to be a tough day for me but I’m not going to give up and I am going to come back stronger. It’s been a tough journey but I promise I will come back and one day win this tournament.

Jabeur had no answer to the big-hitting Vondrousova despite the support of 15,000 partisan fans under the closed Centre Court roof.

Trailing 4-2 in the first set, Vondrousova seized the momentum as she reeled off four consecutive games to take the opener.

Jabeur moved 3-1 up in the second set with a pair of breaks, only to falter again as her unforced errors reached 31 by the final game.

In contrast to Jabeur’s troubles, Vondr­ousova remained ice-cool and sealed her unlikely triumph with a perfect volley before falling to the turf in delight.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2023