(CNN) — Markéta Vondroušová had overcome the odds throughout the last fortnight at Wimbledon and the Czech did so again in the women’s final on Saturday, beating favorite Ons Jabeur to become the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to win the famous tournament.
The world No. 42, who was playing in her first grand slam final, beat the No. 6 seed 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court to make history.
Not since Serena Williams in 2018, when the American was ranked 181 in the world, has a female player ranked so low in the world reached the Wimbledon final.
At the start of the tournament, no one expected Vondroušová to be competing in the championship match, not even the player herself whose husband had remained in the Czech Republic until the final to look after their cat, Frankie.
But Jabeur became the fifth seeded player to fall to the 24-year-old in this tournament as her unpredictability proved difficult for her opponents to overcome, with the Tunisian particularly struggling despite having numerous opportunities to take control of the match.
History would have been made no matter which of the finalist had lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish, but the enormity of the occasion weighed heavier on Jabeur, who has now lost a second successive Wimbledon final with this, she said after the defeat, being the most painful of her career.
But that is what pressure does to a player, especially one carrying the hopes of not only a nation but a continent while also trying to grapple with her own expectations, dreams and past failures. Jabeur again came close to becoming the first Arab and African woman to win a grand slam, but her 31 unforced errors proved costly and the wait goes on.
“I’m not going to give up, I’m going to come back stronger,” she told Centre Court while also wiping away the tears.
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