Marketa Vondrousova defeated favourite Ons Jabeur in straight sets to make history as the first unseeded women’s singles champion at Wimbledon.
There have been a string of surprise slam winners in a period of flux for the women’s game but Wimbledon had been the exception until now, with Czech Vondrousova taking advantage of a nervous performance from Jabeur to claim a 6-4 6-4 victory.
The irony is it comes at a time when a new big three comprising of Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and last year’s Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina have established themselves at the top of the game.
Jabeur certainly deserves to be in the conversation, too, given this was her third final appearance at the last five slams and that she accounted for Rybakina and Sabalenka in the previous two rounds.
The Tunisian admitted ahead of facing Rybakina that it was still too painful to watch last year’s final and she desperately wanted to make it third time lucky and become the first north African and Arab grand slam singles champion.
Jabeur was slapping her thigh in frustration as early as the third game and in the end was simply not able to find that composure that she needed.
Both the sixth seed and Vondrousova possess a box of tricks, preferring to dissect opponents using slices, drop shots and lobs rather than trying to bully from the baseline.
The roof was closed despite conditions being dry, meaning the high winds forecast would not be a factor, and Vondrousova took full advantage to land a perfect lob on to the baseline on the first point.
But, with the Princess of Wales and tennis royalty Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King watching from the front row of the Royal Box, it was Jabeur who claimed the early advantage.
She used her extra power to move into a 4-2 lead only for Vondrousova, who had won both their previous matches this year, to reel off four games in a row and claim the opening set.
Jabeur’s legs and arms were clearly stricken by tension and she headed off court for a bathroom break. She could not free herself up, though, and dropped serve immediately at the start of the second set.
Jabeur is a real crowd favourite everywhere and Centre Court roared as she fought back from 40-0 to break the Vondrousova serve before opening up a 3-1 lead.
The Czech had her own supporters, including husband Stepan Simek, who had passed over the responsibility of looking after their cat Frankie to fly to London for the final.
This was not the 24-year-old’s first time on such a stage having burst through as a 19-year-old at the French Open in 2019 before losing in the final to Ashleigh Barty.
Injuries had prevented her building on that, and she came to London as a tourist last summer during Wimbledon with her wrist in a cast after two operations.
Just eight months ago, she was ranked outside the top 100 and winning a title in the rather less glamorous surroundings of The Shrewsbury Club in Shropshire.
But Vondrousova has reminded the tennis world this season of what a supremely talented player she is and back she came to level before breaking the Jabeur serve again at 4-4.
A double fault on her first match point betrayed a hint of nerves but she put away a cool volley on the second before dropping to the court in stunned celebration.
Zverev overcomes injury scare to maintain Italian Open charge
Alexander Zverev moved a step closer to his second Italian Open title with a hard-fought 6-4 6-3 quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz, overcoming an injury scare en route to the last four.
Zverev – who triumphed on the clay in Rome back in 2017 – produced a dominant serving performance against another heavy hitter in Fritz, but only after an awkward fall early on.
The German sought medical attention after falling on his stomach in the third service game of the match, the slip leaving him bleeding from both hands.
However, he soon shook off that knock and did not allow Fritz a single break point in a deeply impressive display, setting up a semi-final meeting with Chile's Alejandro Tabilo – the conqueror of Novak Djokovic – for Friday.
Data Debrief: Zverev gathering momentum
Zverev, the lone former champion remaining in the men's draw, is surely the favourite to win a tournament characterised by unfortunate withdrawals and shock defeats for the biggest names.
Seven of Zverev's 21 tour-level titles have come on clay, and he is yet to drop a single set in Rome this year. His three-year wait for an ATP 1000 title could soon be over.
Sabalenka overcomes injury concerns to reach Rome semi-finals
Aryna Sabalenka is through to her second Italian Open semi-final after a straight-sets victory over Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday.
The Belarusian, who recovered from a lower back injury sustained in her previous match against Elina Svitolina, breezed through 6-2, 6-4 after just 72 minutes on the court.
Sabalenka broke her serve in the third and fifth games, with Ostapenko opening the door with two double faults, while a single break in the seventh game settled the second set.
The second seed almost let it slip with her only double fault but came back with two big serves to close out the win.
Sabalenka will face Danielle Collins or Victoria Azarenka in the semi-final on Friday.
Data Debrief: Top 10
Sabalenka (10) has become only the second player to reach 10 or more WTA-1000 semi-finals since the start of the 2020 season, along with Iga Swiatek (16).
With Sabalenka joining Swiatek and Coco Gauff, it is the first time the WTA’s top three players have reached the semi-final at the same WTA event since Roland Garros in 2013 – excluding the WTA Tour Finals.
Sabalenka has spent the most time out on the court in WTA clay events in 2024, with this match bringing her up to 25 hours and 34 minutes.
Gauff sets up Swiatek semi-final meeting after downing Zheng in Rome
Coco Gauff will have the chance to down world number one Iga Swiatek after progressing to the Italian Open semi-finals with Tuesday's victory over Qinwen Zheng.
The 20-year-old breezed into the last-four draw in Rome after her straight-sets victory over Zheng, winning 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.
Gauff faced just one break point throughout the match, failing to hold her serve at 5-3 up as seven-seed Zhen battled back in the first set.
Yet Gauff eased through the tie-break and never looked back from there on, teeing up a meeting with Swiatek, who overcame Madison Keys in straight sets in her quarter-final clash.
Data Debrief: Young Gauff powers on
No player has won more matches than Gauff (61) in WTA-1000 events before turning 21, since the introduction of the format in 2009, as the American moved past Caroline Wozniacki (60) with victory here.
Wozniacki (eight) is also the only player to manage more WTA-1000 semi-final appearances before her 21th birthday, with Gauff's last-four qualification here taking her onto six – one ahead of Swiatek.
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