By Tony Fairbairn At Wimbledon
- Ons Jabeur [6] v Marketa Vondrousova
- H2H: Tied at 2-2
LONDON, ENGLAND – Ons Jabeur is looking to achieve her childhood dreams as she takes on Marketa Vondrousova in the Wimbledon final.
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Ons Jabeur [6] v Marketa Vondrousova | H2H & Match Fundamentals
Ons Jabeur is into her second consecutive Wimbledon final as the Tunisian came back from a set and a break down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka in three sets. Now after overcoming four Grand Slam champions, Jabeur is looking to achieve her childhood dream and become the first ever African and Arab player to win a Grand Slam singles title. Standing in Jabeur’s way is Marketa Vondrousova who is the first unseeded player in the open era to be in the women’s singles final at Wimbledon after defeating Elina Svitolina to reach her second career Grand Slam final.
| Ons Jabeur [6] v Marketa Vondrousova | H2H: Tied at 2-2 |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £1,175,000/£2,350,000 |
| First on Centre Court (14:00 BST) | BBC Sport |
Both players have had tough routes to the final in different ways as Jabeur has had to go through four former Grand Slam champions while Vondrousova has knocked out four seeded players on her way to the final.
Ons Jabeur [6] route to the final
- R1: Magdalena Frech 6-3 6-3
- R2: Zhuoxuan Bai [Q] 6-1 6-1
- R3: Bianca Andreescu 3-6 6-3 6-4
- R4: Petra Kvitova [9] 6-0 6-3
- QF: Elena Rybakina [3] 6-7(5) 6-4 6-1
- SF: Aryna Sabalenka [2] 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3
Marketa Vondrousova route to the final
- R1: Peyton Stearns 6-2 7-5
- R2: Veronika Kudermetova [12] 6-3 6-3
- R3: Donna Vekic [20] 6-1 7-5
- R4: Marie Bouzkova [32] 2-6 6-4 6-3
- QF: Jessica Pegula [4] 6-4 2-6 6-4
- SF: Elina Svitolina [WC] 6-3 6-3
Tale of the Tape – Key Stats (2023 – Grass)
| H2H: | Ons Jabeur (WR 6) | Marketa Vondrousova (WR 42) |
| Tournament Previous Best | Final (2022) | R2 (2021) |
| 1st Serve Return Points Won % | 36.2 | 40.8 |
| Return Points Won % | 43.5 | 43.8 |
| Break Point Conversion % | 52.9 | 41 |
| Break Point Saved % | 57.5 | 60 |
| Total Points Won % | 53.9 | bb |
Vondrousova has been the better player on the big points on serve however Jabeur has been far more clinical on break points heading into the final.
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Playing Styles and Prediction
Jabeur is into her second consecutive Wimbledon final after enduring a very tough route which included four former Grand Slam champions. However the Tunisian has played some sublime tennis and is now looking to achieve her Wimbledon dream and make African tennis history.
Speaking after her win over Sabalenka, Jabeur said that her injuries this season taught her to be patient and is working hard to improve herself all the time.
“I’m working on myself like crazy. You have no idea what I’m doing,” Jabeur said in her press conference.
“Every time there is something, I’m very tough with myself, try to improve everything. Very impatient sometimes, which is not good. Maybe the injuries did slow me down and teach me to be patient and accept what’s going on.
“For me, I always believed in mental, in working on it. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past years since I was maybe 10 years old because I know if you are not ready physically, mentally you can always win. That’s probably what happened in the last two matches.
“The first thing that comes to my mind is patience. It teach me how to be very patient and accept whatever happened to me with the injury because it was out of my control. I can’t do anything about it. I was trying my best to be ready for the competition. Yeah, I mean, if you tell me you get injured and be in the final of Wimbledon, I would take it.”
The final obstacle for Jabeur is Vondrousova who has taken out four seeds on her way to being the first unseeded player to reach the women’s singles final in the open era. Now in her second Grand Slam final, Vondrousova is looking to make the most of the opportunity and continue her confident performances at Wimbledon.
After her semi-final win over Svitolina, Vondrousova admitted that maintaining her focus by keeping her team as small as possible has been the key to success at Wimbledon so far.
“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s pretty amazing what’s happening. You have to just have the people around you that’s just going to stay with you and do the things for you, let you focus on the game, on the final,” Vondrousova explained.
“For me, I don’t like these things. Talking to you guys is just too much for me. I think I’m just really happy to be alone in a small circle. These kind of things, I don’t like very much. I don’t enjoy them. For me, it’s actually tough to do it. I just like to stay on my own or just with a few people. Yeah, but, I mean, it’s a great thing to do if you’re in a final, but still you have to keep your circle small.
“Yeah, I mean, after everything I’ve been through, two surgeries, it’s not always easy to come back. Yeah, you don’t know if you can play at this level and if you can be back at the top and back at these tournaments. I just feel like I’m just grateful to be on a court again, to play without pain. I’m just really grateful for it.”
Jabeur will look to be the more aggressive player as she looks to use the forehand to move Vondrousova out of position as the Tunisian will hope to set up efficient winners. Meanwhile Vondrousova will look to be the more passive player as she looks to turn defence into attack and will aim to use her big left handed serve to her advantage.
Both players play similar styles as they look to use their craft and creativity to outmanoeuvre each other. In the end Jabeur’s more varied shot-making as well as more aggressive patterns of play should give her the edge in what should be a tense match.
Prediction: Jabeur in three sets.
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