She had come for revenge, Markéta Vondrousova said ahead of the Wimbledon final. Not to opponent Ons Jabeur, but to losing her first grand slam final four years ago, when she had to acknowledge her superiority in Ashleigh Barty at Roland Garros.
Vondrousova was only nineteen then. She is now “an older and different person,” she said. And she held on to being the first unseeded player since Billie Jean King to reach the Wimbledon final in 1963. That in itself was a major achievement, but she wanted more.
Vondrousova had already defeated Jabeur twice this year, at the Australian Open and in Indian Wells, but she lost their only match on grass, two years ago in Eastbourne, to the Tunisian. She was also out for revenge on Saturday, after her lost three-setter against Elena Rybakina in last year’s Wimbledon final. And: a place in the history books, as the first African and Arab grand slam winner.
The cafes and hotels in the capital Tunis were packed on Saturday. On large screens people followed the achievements of their ‘minister of happiness’, who can no longer be beaten because of her cheerful nature and because she gives the socially, politically and economically disrupted country hope in frightening days.
Jabeur has been immortalized on a stamp and named Peace Champion of the Year. In Tunis, her head adorns gigantic billboards. She experiences being a role model as a heavy responsibility, she said earlier this year Vogue Arabia. It forces her to do her best for all those women and girls she inspires. “I always try to spread positivity and hope it helps others.”
Fumbling at himself
The motives of the two opponents, friends moreover, made the sporting get-together interesting in advance. Essentially it was about whether Vondrousova had recovered enough from a wrist injury to play her best ever game against Jabeur, as number 42 in the world. And to ask whether Jabeur had learned enough from her mental coach Melanie Maillard to overcome any lesser phases of the final. “Tennis is an exhausting and emotional sport,” she said earlier.
Jabeur failed to do the latter. In a lackluster performance, she let Vondrousova dictate most of the match. Initially it rained break points on both sides, but at 4-4 in the first set Vondrousova started to put more pressure. She used the first of two break points and then the first of three set points. In the second set, Jabeur got off to a bad start, but she broke back immediately, so that the audience, clearly on its side, bounced back.
Although the players on the scoreboard were equal again, the Tunisian was not convinced. She scolded herself, her box and hung her head after every drop. At 4-4, Vondrousova broke her again and then forced three match points, of which she cashed in the second.
Jabeur scolded herself, against her box, and hung his head after every drop.
Vondrousova, who watched a friend in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in the stands with a cast on her wrist last year, seemed almost surprised by her own performance. She watched with compassion as Jabeur burst into sobs at the ceremony and spoke of “the most painful defeat of my career.” She called Jabeur “an inspiration to all of us” and admitted that she did not know how she had managed to fight back after her injury. It is certain that Vondrousova can call herself the first unseeded Wimbledon winner and will go home with 2.75 million euros.
Equal prize money
Jabeur, in turn, promised the audience that she would not give up and would one day win Wimbledon. With the departure of Serena Williams last fall, the Tunisian seems to have taken on the role of champion in tennis. She campaigns for equal prize money for men and women, even outside the grand slams, spoke openly about her ‘leakage fear’ of wearing white clothing at Wimbledon, and did not hide her irritation when her final against Jessica Pegula, last year in Madrid, started an hour later because the men’s semi-final had to be played on the same track. Professional tennis players deserve more respect, she said.
Although the high expectations were not met on Saturday, Jabeur will probably receive a hero’s reception in Tunisia again. Because the beauty of her compatriots, she told Aryna Sabalenka after her semifinal, “is that they always say they love me, whether I win or lose”. That sounded like music to her ears, she said with a laugh.