Vondrousova becomes first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon

 Wimbledon, July 16: Marketa Vondrousova became the lowest-ranked and first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon, defeating 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday.

Vondrousova is a 24-year-old left-hander from the Czech Republic who is ranked 42nd. She was the first unseeded woman to even reach the final at the All England Club in 60 years.

Vondrousova trailed in each set but collected the last four games of the first, then the last three games of the second.

This is her first Grand Slam title. She lost in the final of the 2019 French Open as a teenager.

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.

But she lost to Elena Rybakina at the All England Club and to No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the U.S. Open last year.

Vondrousova’s surge to the trophy was hard to envision two weeks ago.

She was 1-4 in previous appearances at Wimbledon before going 7-0 this fortnight. A year ago, Vondrousova was unable to even compete at Wimbledon, instead showing up with a cast on her surgically repaired left wrist to cheer on a friend.

Vondrousova was sidelined from April to October because of that injury and finished 2022 ranked just 99th.

Alcaraz faces Djokovic in final Novak Djokovic paid quite a compliment to Carlos Alcaraz. Before they’ll face each other in the Wimbledon final on Sunday, Djokovic was asked to size up Alcaraz — and he compared the kid to himself.

Pretty good company. “He’s been incredibly successful in adapting to the surfaces and (to the) demands and challenges of opponents on a given day,” Djokovic said. “I see this as a great trait, as a great virtue. I see this as one of my biggest strengths throughout my career, that I was able to constantly develop, adapt and adjust my game, depending on the challenges, basically. That’s what he’s doing very early on in his career.”

And Alcaraz’s assessment of Djokovic?

“He has no weakness. He’s a really complete guy, really complete player. He’s amazing. He does nothing wrong on the court,” Alcaraz said. “Physically he’s a beast. Mentally he’s a beast. Everything is unbelievable for him.”

The matchup on Centre Court at the All England Club to close the fortnight is absolutely the one both men expected. As did pretty much everyone else.

What more could tennis fans ask for?

“He’s very motivated. He’s young. He’s hungry,” Djokovic observed. “I’m hungry, too, so let’s have a feast.”

It is a showdown pitting one of the greatest players ever — many consider him THE greatest — in Djokovic, who is 36, against a rising new star in Alcaraz, who is 20. It is the widest age gap between two men’s Grand Slam finalists since 1974, and Djokovic would become the oldest male champion at Wimbledon in the Open era.

Alcaraz is ranked No. 1, Djokovic is No. 2 (but has spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone else, man or woman).

They showed they’re a cut above the rest with straight-set victories in Thursday’s semifinals: Alcaraz never gave No. 3 Daniil Medvedev a chance while beating him 6-3, 6-3, 6-3; Djokovic had a few tough spots he had to navigate but eliminated No. 8 Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Medvedev went so far as to put Alcaraz in the category of the so-called Big Three of men’s tennis: Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. “He’s kind of like them,” Medvedev said. (AP)