{"id":316330,"date":"2023-07-15T16:27:04","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T16:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=316330"},"modified":"2023-07-15T16:59:17","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T16:59:17","slug":"unseeded-star-inks-name-into-wimbledon-folklore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=316330","title":{"rendered":"Unseeded star inks name into Wimbledon folklore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marketa Vondrousova came to the All England Club a year ago unable to play tennis<\/a> at all.<\/p>\n

She had a cast on her surgically repaired left wrist, so her visit was limited to sightseeing around London with her sister and cheering for a friend who was competing at Wimbledon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This trip was a lot more memorable: She is leaving as a grand slam champion.<\/p>\n

AS IT HAPPENED:<\/strong> Pumas stun Wallabies in thriller, All Blacks outclass Springboks<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon early Sunday morning, coming back in each set for a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur<\/a> in the final.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/wwos\/status\/1680226397594484738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really know what\u2019s happening now. It\u2019s an amazing feeling,\u201d Vondrousova, a 24-year-old left-hander from the Czech Republic, said during the trophy ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter everything I\u2019ve been through \u2014 I had a cast last year [at] this time \u2014 it\u2019s just amazing that I can stand here and hold this. Tennis is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch Wimbledon 2023 live and free on<\/strong><\/em> 9now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Alternatively, you can stream every match live, ad-free and on demand on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, with centre court in 4K UHD.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

After being sidelined from April to October last year, Vondrousova finished last season ranked 99th. She arrived at Wimbledon 42nd and was the first unseeded woman to reach the final at the All England Club in 60 years \u2014 the last, 1963 runner-up Billie Jean King, was seated in the front row of the Royal Box alongside Kate, the Princess of Wales.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Following the match, King greeted Vondrousova with a hug and told her: \u201cFirst unseeded ever. I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Centre Court's retractable roof was closed for the final, shielding everyone from the high winds outside, and that perhaps allowed Vondrousova's smooth lefty strokes to repeatedly find their intended mark.<\/p>\n

Her shots betrayed none of the sort of tension that Jabeur\u2019s shots did.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/wwos\/status\/1680232966998437888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Vondrousova lost in the 2019 final at Roland-Garros as a teenager. But in this match, she trailed in each set but collected the last four games of the first, then the last three games of the second.<\/p>\n

So, how did she plan to celebrate?<\/p>\n

\u201cI'm going to have some beer, maybe,\u201d Vondrouova said, drawing chuckles from the fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an exhausting two weeks, and I just tried to get myself together for the few last days. I was just so nervous before the game, and I'm just really grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jabeur dropped to 0-3 in major finals. The 28-year-old from Tunisia is the only Arab woman and only North African woman to make it that far in singles at any grand slam tournament.<\/p>\n

She lost to Elena Rybakina at the All England Club 12 months ago and to No.1 Iga Swiatek at the US Open last September.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is the most painful loss of my career,\u201d Jabeur said, pausing to wipe away tears.<\/p>\n

\"Jabeur's<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a tough day for me today. But I\u2019m not going to give up. I'm going to come back stronger and win this grand slam."<\/p>\n

Vondrousova\u2019s surge to her maiden slam title was hard to envision at the start of the last fortnight.<\/p>\n

She was 1-4 in previous appearances at Wimbledon, only once making it as far as the second round on its grass courts, before going 7-0 on a run that included wins against five-seeded foes.<\/p>\n

Against No.6 Jabeur, Vondrousova kept falling slightly behind. In the first set, she was down 2-0, then 4-2, before reeling off 16 of the last 18 points.<\/p>\n

In the second set, the deficits were 3-1 and 4-3.<\/p>\n

But Jabeur\u2019s mistakes kept coming: She would finish with 31 unforced errors, while Vondrousova made merely 13.<\/p>\n

\"Vondrousova<\/p>\n

During the break between sets, Jabeur headed to the locker room. When she came back out, she immediately made another error, and the spectators made a ton of noise to show their support.<\/p>\n

Another miscue gave Vondrousova a breakpoint, and Jabeur gifted that with yet another shot into the net. The match was 45 minutes old, and Vondrousova led by a set and a break.<\/p>\n

That, then, is when Jabeur began something of a turnaround. She took three games in a row to go ahead 3-1, showing signs of perhaps the sort of comebacks she created after ceding the opening sets before beating Rybakina, No.2 Aryna Sabalenka and 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.<\/p>\n

\"Marketa<\/p>\n

The crowd was pulling for the popular Jabeur, nicknamed the Minister of Happiness for her demeanour on and off the court \u2014 the level of support they were providing rising right along with her level of play.<\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n

Vondrousova overcame that blip and she surged to the finish.<\/p>\n

When Vondrousova ended the match by reaching to put away a volley, she tumbled to the grass, then laid on her back and put her hands over her visor and face, the happiest she\u2019s ever been on the surface.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marketa Vondrousova came to the All England Club a year ago unable to play tennis at all. She had a cast on her surgically repaired […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":316332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316330"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=316330"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316336,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316330\/revisions\/316336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/316332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=316330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=316330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=316330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}