(Wimbledon) They dreamed it and they did it: Ons Jabeur and Marketa Vondrousova qualified for the Wimbledon final on Thursday by taming world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and ending Elina Svitolina’s saga respectively .
For Jabeur, at 28, this is a second chance after the lost final last year on this grass where her touch, now supported by a steely mind, works miracles against the most powerful players.
After taking her revenge in the quarterfinals on the Kazakh Elena Rybakina, titled last year, the Tunisian followed up with a victory over another of the most powerful players on the circuit.
Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open in January and was already a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2021 before being banned last year, came close to qualifying, which would also have secured her the world number 1 spot. Monday. She indeed led a set to zero with the break confirmed in the second.
But it was without counting on the will of Jabeur who reversed the situation to finally win 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3.
“Accepting his services and his powerful shots was very difficult, so thank you for believing in me and supporting me until the end,” the Tunisian told the crowd, all committed to her cause.
“I’m very proud because whoever I was before would have lost this match and I would already be on my way home, but I found the strength to fight,” she added, explaining to shoot the fruits of his psychological work.
“I learn to turn negative energy, like frustration, into positive energy. I knew how to go deep inside me to win this match… and, who knows, the tournament, ”she said with a smile.
The Belarusian indeed managed 39 winning points, including 10 aces, but faced with the tenacity of his opponent, he committed too many faults to win (45 unforced errors over the whole match, against 14 for Jabeur).
So much so that it is the Tunisian, an unfortunate finalist last year at Wimbledon then at the United States Open, who will find Marketa Vondrousova in the final on Saturday, who is also aiming for a first Grand Slam title after losing a final at Roland. -Garros in 2019.
The Czech indeed put an abrupt end to the epic of the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (76th and beneficiary of a pass) 6-3, 6-3.
“On clay or on hard courts, maybe I would have said that it was eventually possible [to reach the final]. But on grass it was impossible,” Vondrousova said, still in disbelief.
“When I saw my draw, I thought, ‘Let’s give it a try.’ I beat Kudermetova (11th) and Vekic (21st), who are very good on grass. So I was like, ‘OK, maybe I’ll get better and I can do something here,'” she said.
Ranked 42nd in the WTA, she is the second lowest-ranked player to play a final in the London temple: in 2018, Serena Williams, returning from maternity leave, was ranked 181st.
“To me, it’s really crazy, what’s going on. But I think anything can happen in tennis,” said the 24-year-old Czech.
As in the second set against Svitolina who came back from 4-0 to 4-3.
“She was about to come back. She played very good tennis. I just managed to stay focused and well in my head. I’m happy with the way I finished the match,” admitted Vondrousova.
If she missed her comeback in the second set, Svitolina managed the one at Wimbledon.
Nine months after giving birth to her daughter Skaï, the fruit of her union with the French player Gaël Monfils, and despite the psychological difficulties linked to the war in her country, Svitolina found the last four of a Grand Slam tournament in London. , equaling his best result in these tournaments (Wimbledon and United States Open 2019).
As champion, she nevertheless spoke of her regrets after the defeat: “I am quite disappointed with my match and my performance today. It was a good tournament obviously, but I’m disappointed today,” she said.
