By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
What a perfect time for Marketa Vondrousova to show the tennis world what she’s made of.
Trailing at the start of both sets during her women’s singles grand finals matchup with Ons Jabeur, the Czech superstar kept her focus and showed poise under pressure to complete the comeback- 6.4, 6.4- during the championship round of Wimbledon last July 15, 2023.
With the win, the 24-year-old world no. 48 ranked female tennis player just clinched her first-ever Grand Slam title which is also her first in the most prestigious grass surface major tourney.
It was not the start that Vondrousova was hoping for as the Tunisian Jabeur was hitting her rhythm shots at will, allowing her to capitalize during the long rally exchanges.
Jabeur was able to score a break-point early in the first set that allowed her to take a commanding 2-0 lead heading into Vondrousova’s second service attempt.
The Czech star held a much-needed service possession to score her first game point but Jabeur struck back to put herself back in the driver’s seat with a 4-2 advantage.
Just when the Tunisian aspirant thought she could remain unfazed and target Vondrousova from her wide-angle to prevent the top-spin forehand, the Czech star changed gears in the final clutch phase of the first set to stun Jabeur with a momentum-clinching 4-0 run.
Vondrousova chased most of the balls in her forehand side and kept Jabeur away from the net, her comfort zone when she kicked off the set with a 2-0 lead.
An unfortunate sequence of events then haunted Jabeur as Vondrousova’s heavy forehand started to affect her return efficiency and piled up her unforced errors in the first set to 15.
Jabeur was eager to bounce back in the second to force a third and deciding set as she replicated her start in the previous frame with another lead.
The Tunisian ace went off to the races and notched a 3-1 edge in the second set generated by her down-the-line winners and effective serve-and-volley technique.
Stepping up with her signature never-say-die attitude was Vondrousova once again as she snowballed her way back into the game to equalize the second set at 3-all.
Jabeur scored one more game point to keep her hopes of a Wimbledon title alive but the hungry Czech stalwart ended the championship match with a dominant 3-1 run to raise her first Grand Slam championship trophy.
