“It’s crazy what’s happening here now,” repeated Vondroušová several times, who is experiencing a successful campaign a year after she labored with an injured wrist and only saw London as a tourist. She won the semifinals on her name day. “It probably couldn’t have gone any better. Besides, today is the thirteenth and thirteen is my lucky number. I thought it might work out,” she added.
The 24-year-old native of Sokolov managed the first center court match in her life in one hour and 16 minutes. She didn’t hide her nervousness, but she beat world number one Iga Šwiateková Svitolina in the ratio of winning balls 22:9. She defeated the Ukrainian, four years older, for the third time in a row and equalized the mutual balance at 3:3.
“I was quite nervous before the match. In the warm-up room, they always switch the court on the TV so we can see how many people are there. And that made me even more nervous,” she recounted. But coach Hernych helped her. “It is said that he met Mr. (Jan) Kodeš before the match, and he told him not to worry about it, that the center is almost as big as the firsts. That calmed me down a bit,” she said.
Vondroušová won the first set in half an hour and led 4:0 in the second. But she complicated the ending and Svitolina returned to the game. “When she reduced it to 4:3, it really weighed on me. But I told myself that I was playing well, that I should stay strong, that it could turn in my favor again at any time. The new balls that I served with helped me. I glad I stayed calm,” said the world number 42, who became the first unseeded tennis player in 60 years to reach the Wimbledon final.
The Olympic silver medalist from Tokyo is in her second Grand Slam final and the first since Roland Garros 2019. “Because I didn’t play much on grass until this year, neither I nor my loved ones could have imagined something like this. On clay, yes, but success on grass seemed completely unattainable to me,” admitted Vondroušová.
She is also considered a more mature player and personality. “I was very young then and it was very difficult for me. Now I’m a bit older and I’d say I’m a different person. I’m glad I did it again.”
A month ago, she also experienced Karolína Muchová’s final at Roland Garros, with whom she works in the club 1. ČLTK Prague and trains with her. She said that her compatriot’s final defeat against Polka Šwiateková took her away.
“When she double-faulted at the end of the match, I was completely at the bottom. I was crying in the corridor at home and I couldn’t even write to her how upset I was. I know how very difficult it is to get this far in a Grand Slam and she was so close to the title. In addition, Kája had a similar approach to clay as I do to grass. Now we have switched roles,” she said.
Foto: Kirsty Wigglesworth, ČTK/AP
Elina Svitolinová in a match against Markéta Vondroušová
Husband Štěpán will come to support Vondroušová at the finals, to whose address she joked after the quarterfinals that she has to look after the cat at home. “Now he wrote to me that the cat watcher will come to see us. He will arrive tomorrow with my sister,” revealed Vondroušová.
A bet with coach Hernych will also motivate her to the final, who will get a tattoo if she wins. “Before Wimblas, we trained with Jelena Rybakinová, and her coach Stefano (Vukov) has her name tattooed when she won it here last year. So I told Herň that we would bet on the same thing. He laughed and said: If you win the Grand Slam, then yes . I guess the poor guy didn’t know what he was getting into,” she said. And on a good whim, she added that she would choose a likeness of her face as a tattoo. “Now I told him: One more match and you’re going.”
In the fight for the premier Grand Slam title, she will challenge Džabirová, who failed in the last duel with Rybakinová last year. On Thursday, the Tunisian defeated this year’s Australian Open winner of Belarus, Aryna Sabalenkova. With Džábirová, Vondroušová has a balanced score of 3:3, the Czech tennis player has beaten her twice this year.
“I feel that we are the same in something. We both play shorts and braids. She played the final here last year and also at the US Open. She is used to Grand Slam finals. Either way, it will be a tough match,” added Vondroušová.
2023-07-13 18:30:58
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