DREAM /mpossible

On the eve of the 129th staging of the Wimbledon women’s tournament, a fascinating new club had formed. well.”

The top three had become the Big Three, and its membership was elite. Sharing the past five Grand Slam victories between them, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina had also created captivating rivalries as they faced off for other big titles throughout 2023. “It's really cool to be one of those great players,” said world No.2 Sabalenka, understated but clearly proud. “Hopefully I can continue doing well.”

As those Grand Slam superstars launched their respective Wimbledon 2023 campaigns on the All England Club’s iconic main courts, Marketa Vondrousova was happy to simply arrive on lesser-profile Court No.7.

The previous year, the unseeded Czech had been relegated to tourist and supporter of her best friend, Miriam Kolodziejova, in qualifying, her left wrist still in a cast as she recovered from a second surgery.

WIMBLEDON 2023

The 24-year-old’s appearance in the Roland Garros 2019 final was a distant memory for many observers and most considered Vondrousova more a hard or clay-court threat. The world No.42 had, after all, won only four main-draw matches on grass before then.

But as she edged past some dangerous opponents in the early rounds, something

MAJOR LEAP: With Wimbledon glory, Marketa Vondrousova also celebrated her opponents – two of them in three sets. “These two weeks are incredible. I just came here, and I just said to myself, ‘Just stay open-minded, just try to play your game’,” she commented after victory over world No.4 Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals. “Now this is happening, so it's a crazy thing … I’m just a bit in shock.” As it transpired, Vondrousova was also in form, the Czech taking only 75 minutes to progress past the resurgent Elina Svitolina in the semifinals. “Here on grass, it was almost impossible,” she said of her return to a Grand Slam final. “I didn't play many matches on grass before. My best (Wimbledon performance) was (reaching the) second round … for me, when it was clay or hard (court), maybe I would say, ‘yeah, maybe it's possible’. But grass was impossible for me.”

Yet the biggest surprise was still to come as the crafty lefthander faced Ons Jabeur in the championship match. Contested under a closed roof, due to patchy rain and a rare yellow warning for high winds in southwest London, Vondrousova created a storm of her own as she staged a recovery in both sets – trailing 2-4 in the first, and 1-3 in the second – to record a 6-4 6-4 win.

Later, she would speak of the remarkable calm that became as much a factor as her trademark creativity on court. “I didn't start the final well,” Vondrousova admitted. “But I was so calm. I felt really good. On match point I couldn't breathe. Crazy nervous. I was thinking to myself, ‘Just be over’. Everything is on you. Then – just relief.”

“Nobody would have said that I even have a chance to win … I can’t believe it still.”

As reality gradually set in for the new champion, so too did the awareness of her new status in the sport. As the third Czech, after Jana Novotna and Petra Kvitova, to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish, Vondrousova also debuted in the world’s top 10.