Renew: 13/07/2023 23:08
Issued by: 13/07/2023, 16:00

London – Markéta Vondrousová advanced to the Wimbledon final. The Czech defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6:3 twice in one hour and 16 minutes in the grass court semifinals at the All England Club. She will compete for her first Grand Slam title on Saturday with last year’s finalist Uns Džábirová of Tunisia, who beat world number two Aryna Sabalenkova of Belarus after 6:7, 6:4 and 6:3 turnarounds.

The 24-year-old Sokolov native is advancing to a Grand Slam final for the second time, failing to win the title four years ago at Roland Garros. On grass in London he is having the best campaign of his career so far his best performance here was in the 2nd round last year. He is the first unseeded player to reach the final since 1963, when Billie Jean King did.

“I was very nervous. I was nervous the whole game,” Vondroušová said in an on-court interview. “Last year I didn’t play for six months due to injury. You never know how you can come back after such a long break. But I’m grateful I’m here, I’m healthy and I can play tennis again. Now I’ll definitely rest a bit.” he said.

The tennis player from 1. ČLTK Prague is the next Czech player in the Wimbledon final after two years. Karolína Plíšková is fighting for the All England Club title in 2021. So far, the last Czech winner has been Petra Kvitová, who won the grass Grand Slam in 2011 and 2014. Jana Novotná (1998) also succeeded before her, and record holder Martina Navrátilová also won nine times, but he has already won all his laurels. under the American flag.

Vondroušová is also the second lowest ranked player to reach the Wimbledon final. It wasn’t until 2018 that Serena Williams (181st) was worse. He was already confident that after the tournament he would rise to at least 16th in the world rankings.

Coach Jan Hernych’s protege was the second consecutive Czech Grand Slam finalist after Karolína Muchová. Muchová fought for the title at Roland Garros on clay last month. Vondroušová has a certain bonus of 1.175 million pounds (32.6 million crowns) for participating in the final. Should he win on Saturday, he will receive 2.35 million pounds (65 million crowns).

Prior to today’s semifinals, she had a 2:3 record with Svitolina, but Vondroušová won her last two matches, including last year’s semifinal at the Olympics. The Ukrainian played in the Wimbledon semifinals four years ago, when she was not good enough for the next winner, Romanian Simona Halepova.

Vondroušová, the world number 42, started the duel ahead of 1973 Wimbledon winner Jan Kodeš in the better way and won the break in the fifth game. The Ukrainian reacted and equalized at 3:3, but the Czech broke again and took the opening set to the end in half an hour.

At the start of the second set, Vondroušová continued her precise and colorful game. Thanks to two breaks, she led 4-0 early and served twice for 5-0. Svitolina, however, lost three games in a row and mentally fired herself up again.

In the crucial eighth game, the Ukrainian was once again not held back by her serve. Vondroušová returned to serve with a 5:3 lead and converted the first match point. She played a total of 22 winning balls, Svitolina only nine. He gave himself a gift for the holidays today as he advanced into battle for the trophy.

Džábirová lost the first set against Sabalenková in a 5:7 tie-break and lost 2:4 in the second after dropping serve, but then she won five games in a row and turned things around in the semifinals. Vondroušová is evenly matched with Džábirová at 3:3, but she has beaten him twice this year. He won the Indian Wells and Australian Open, both played on hard surfaces. After the defeat, Belarus lost the chance to become world number one for the first time, Poland’s Iga Šwiateková would remain at the top of the rankings.

Croatian Pavič and Ukrainian Kičenokova won the mixed event

The Wimbledon mixed doubles winners were Mate Pavič from Croatia and Ljudmyla Kičenokova from Ukraine after winning 6:4, 6:7 and 6:3 over Belgian-Chinese pair Joran Vliegen, Sü I-fan. The 30-year-old Pavič, a former world number one in doubles, is celebrating her sixth Grand Slam title and her third in the mixed, Kičenoková achieved her biggest tennis success today.

Kičenokova delivered victory to her compatriots against Russian aggression. “I want to encourage people in Ukraine with my performance, they are fighting for their freedom,” she said at the ceremony after her first Grand Slam win.

On the other hand, Pavič had already won Wimbledon the year before in men’s doubles with Nikola Mektič or doubles at the Australian Open and US Open. They started with Kičenokova after six long years. “Thanks to the physical therapist we have together,” he reveals.

women’s tennis semifinals at Wimbledon Vondrousova Svitolina