Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova celebrates with the trophy after beating Tunisia's Ons Jabeur in the women's singles final on day thirteen of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Saturday, July 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
By Howard Fendrich
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 left wrist, so her visit was limited to sightseeing around London with her sister and cheering for a friend who was competing at Wimbledon.
This trip was a lot more memorable: She is leaving as a Grand Slam champion.
Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon on Saturday, coming back in each set for a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur in the final.
“When I was coming back, I didn’t know what’s going to happen, if I can play at that level again,” said Vondrousova, a 24-year-old left-hander from the Czech Republic who was the runner-up at the 2019 French Open on clay as a teenager and a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics on hard courts two years ago. “On grass, I didn’t play well before. I think it was the most impossible Grand Slam for me to win, so I didn’t even think of it. When we came, I was just like, ‘Try to win a couple of matches.’ Now this happened. It's crazy.”
After being sidelined from April to October, she finished last season ranked just 99th. She was 42nd when she arrived at Wimbledon and was the first unseeded woman to even reach the final at the All England Club in 60 years — the last, 1963 runner-up Billie Jean King, was seated in the front row of the Royal Box on Saturday alongside Kate, the Princess of Wales.
Following the match, King greeted Vondrousova with a hug and told her: “First unseeded ever. I love it.”
Centre Court's retractable roof was closed for the final, shielding everyone from the wind that topped 20 mph (30 kph) outside, and that allowed Vondrousova's smooth strokes to repeatedly find the intended mark. She also liked that she didn't have to worry about any gusts or the sun or anything else while playing — a reminder of days practicing at indoor courts during winters in Prague.
“I always play good indoors,” Vondrousova said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, maybe that’s going to help me.’”
On this afternoon, she trailed in each set but collected the last four games of the first, then the last three games of the second as Jabeur fell 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.
“You cannot force things," the sixth-seeded Jabeur said. "It wasn’t meant to be.”
She lost to Elena Rybakina 12 months ago at the All England Club and to No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the U.S. Open last September.
“I think this is the most painful loss of my career,” Jabeur said Saturday, pausing to wipe away tears.
Vondrousova’s surge to her Slam title was hard to envision at the start of this fortnight.
She was 1-4 in previous appearances on Wimbledon's grass, only once making it as far as the second round, before going 7-0 on a run that included wins against five seeded foes.
One key was that Jabeur, who acknowledged feeling tension and pressure, kept making mistakes: She finished with 31 unforced errors; Vondrousova made merely 13.
That helped Vondrousova overcome deficits of 4-2 in the first set and 3-1 and 4-3 in the second. One she went ahead in each, the crowd's support for the popular Jabeur, nicknamed the Minister of Happiness for her demeanor on and off the court, would only rise, applause and shouts ricocheting off the cover atop the arena.
Staying steady down the stretch, Vondrousova broke to lead 5-4 and served for the match. She was soon up 40-love — and that's when the enormity of the moment hit her.
“I couldn’t breathe,” Vondrousova said. “I just was thinking to myself: ‘Just be over.’”
When she 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’s ever been on the surface.
She climbed into the stands to share hugs with her husband, who had been home on cat-sitting duty until going to England to watch the final in person. Vondrousova joked that his tears of joy at match's end were the most emotion he's shown in the eight years they've been together; their first wedding anniversary is Sunday.
Vondrousova has other plans for her first full day as a major title winner, too: She and her coach agreed to get tattoos if she won the trophy.
The pro wrestler and his wife's new reality show, "Miz and Mrs," debuts on USA July 24. The Miz tells Cheddar that if he had to fight a tech titan, he'd pick Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. "My recycling bin is out the roof. I need like three different recycling bins all filled with Amazon boxes because [Maryse] loves Amazon Prime."
These are the headlines you Need2Know.
* **Damage Control at the White House:** President Trump will meet with his cabinet today after widespread criticism of his comments spread following Monday's joint meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. To appease his base,Trump declared yesterday that he simply misspoke during the presser--but some critics find that hard to believe.
* **Manafort Goes to Court:** The case against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is moving forward--despite a denial of his team's request for a change of location. Manafort's team asked for the trial to be moved from Alexandria to Roanoke, believing that Alexandria's more liberal base would be less forgiving and attract more press.
* **University Doctor Under Fire:** A former Ohio State University doctor is accused of molesting student athletes after complaints surfaced from several ex-wrestlers--one of whom condemned is Congressman Jim Jordan for ignoring the allegations.
* **Vacancies at Comic-Con:** The 2018 Comic-Con kicks of in San Diego tonight. But some of the usual attendees will be missing: network HBO, the Avengers, X-Men and Deadpool will be among the absent guests.
* **American League Still Number One:** The American league clung to its title as reigning champ after it defeated the National League for the sixth straight year during last night's MLB All-Star game.
Cheddar Big News' Hena Doba gives us the details.
The golf superstar signed with TaylorMade back in 2017 but was out of the game that year due to a back surgery and a reckless driving incident. Since then, things have turned around for Woods. He's preparing to play in the British Open in just a few days and his "ball striking is terrific, his putting is great, and I think he’s in a great position right now to challenge,” says TaylorMade CEO David Abeles.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
Trump Faces Bipartisan Backlash
Russian Woman Charged With Election Meddling
Hawaii's 'Lava Bomb' Injures Tourists
Deadly Fire Near Yosemite National Park Doubles
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
*President Trump meets with Russian President Putin in Helsinki, Finland, days after the indictment of 12 Russian operatives for trying to disrupt the 2016 election.
*A federal judge blasts the HHS giving them one more week to reunite 2,000 families at the border after the administration missed the initial deadline.
*Protests erupted in Chicago over the weekend after a popular barber was shot and killed by the police.
*Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber won Wimbledon titles over the weekend. And France took home the World Cup.
Cheddar's Hope King gives us the details.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
*President Trump is in England preparing for a joint news conference with Theresa May. While the duo dined last night, The Sun newspaper published a sit-down interview with the president where he criticized May’s handling of Brexit. Trump warned trade deals with England could be nixed if Brexit isn’t handled properly.
*FBI agent Peter Strzok was removed from working on the Hillary Clinton email probe and the Trump-Russia investigation after text messages were discovered in which he criticized the president.
*Stormy Daniels made an encore appearance at the same strip club she was arrested at the night prior.
*A Kansas City water park will not reopen after a 10-year-old boy died on a water slide.
*Serena Williams beat Julia Görges of Germany yesterday to reach her 10th Wimbledon final.
Cheddar Big News's Jill Wagner gives us the details.
The Olympic gold medalist hosts “Wedding Cake Championship,” a new show on Food Network, with longtime friend and fellow figure skater Johnny Weir. While the new gig is worlds different from their athletic careers, there are still some similarities. “The competition part of it was fun,” Lipinski tells Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
* Confusion at the NATO summit after President Trump said allies will add billions of dollars to defense spending. But French president Emmanuel Macron rebuffed those claims.
* Stormy Daniels was arrested after an alleged misdemeanor at a Columbus, Ohio, strip club. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has also been working to reunite families at the southern border.
* The U.S. Senate voted yesterday on a non-binding resolution giving it a say on what tariffs are levied and against whom.
* New evidence prompted the Department of Justice reopened the case of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy who was killed in 1955 in Money, Miss.
* John Schnatter, founder and former CEO of Papa John’s, has resigned his chairman role after a racially-charged comment on a conference call.
* Americans made it to both the men’s and women’s Wimbledon semifinals, the first time since 2009.
Cheddar Big News' Jill Wagner tells us the latest.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
The NATO Summit got off to a heated start as President Trump already criticized member countries for not paying their fair share of defense spending.
The Trump administration also missed its promised deadline to reunite dozens of migrant families.
A natural gas leak in Sun Prairie, Wisc., turned deadly when an explosion erupted for several hours.
Brett Kavanaugh, the president's pick for the open Supreme Court seat, met on Capitol Hill with the vice president and senators yesterday.
The NFL Players Association is challenging the anti-kneeling policy, which requires players to remain in the locker room if they choose to protest the national anthem.
Hurricane Chris makes its way up the East Coast, but shouldn't make a major impact on land.
Cheddar Big News' Jill Wagner gives us the details.
France kicked Belgium out of the championship tournament on Tuesday. Some of the team's success so far can be attributed to its coach, Didier Deschamps, who captained the 1998 title-winning team and can convey that experience to his players, says Jeffrey Marcus, publisher of The Banter.
