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.
Alcaraz withdraws from Italian Open, Rublev to meet Auger Aliassime in Madrid
Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from next week's Italian Open due to the arm injury that troubled him at the Madrid Open, where Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger Aliassime will face off in Sunday's final.
Alcaraz saw his bid for a third successive Madrid Open crown halted by Rublev in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, the Spaniard being pegged back after taking the opening set in a 4-6 6-3 6-2 loss.
The two-time grand slam champion – who had won his previous 24 matches at Spanish clay-court events – looked tired throughout that match and has now withdrawn from next week's ATP 1000 Masters event in Rome.
In a post to X, Alcaraz wrote: "I felt pain after playing in Madrid, discomfort in my arm.
"Today I had some tests and I have muscle edema in the pronator teres, a consequence of my last injury. Unfortunately I won't be able to play in Rome. I need rest to recover and be able to play 100 per cent pain-free."
Alcaraz only has limited time to recover if he is to feature at the year's second major, with the French Open due to begin on May 20.
Alcaraz's conqueror Rublev advanced to the final of the Madrid event on Friday, producing a commanding performance to beat American Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-3 in the last four.
Rublev entered the Madrid Open on a run of four straight losses, but he is now into his third ATP Masters 1000 final since the start of 2023 – a tally only bettered by Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev (four apiece).
His opponent in Sunday's showpiece match will be Auger Aliassime, who progressed by virtue of a walkover on Friday after semi-final opponent Jiri Lehecka was forced to retire through injury.
Lehecka left the court for treatment on a back injury after just six games, with Auger Aliassime having held serve for 3-3. He only managed to play three further points on his return before calling the match to a halt in a disappointing ending to the night session.
Data Debrief: Lucky Auger Aliassime
Auger Aliassime would surely have preferred to win his semi-final the traditional way, but the Canadian should be fresh for Sunday's final after spending very limited time on court.
He has progressed through three rounds at this year's Madrid Open courtesy of a retirement or walkover, with Jakub Mensik and Jannik Sinner also stricken.
He is the first player since 1990 to progress through three rounds via retirement or walkover at a single ATP Masters event.
Sabalenka sets up Swiatek rematch at Madrid Open
Aryna Sabalenka will face Iga Swiatek in the Madrid Open final for the second year running after beating Elena Rybakina 1-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5) in a semi-final classic on Thursday.
Fourth seed Rybakina made a flying start and took the opener within just 25 minutes, but Sabalenka hit back in a topsy-turvy second set featuring five breaks of serve to force a decider.
Both players were imperious on their own serve from there, with a tie-break required to split them. Sabalenka's power looked likely to overwhelm Rybakina as she raced into a 5-1 lead, but the former Wimbledon champion clung on by saving two match points on her own serve.
Sabalenka would not be denied third time around, though, a huge serve giving Rybakina no chance as the defending champion teed up a rematch with Swiatek, who she beat in the Spanish capital in last year's showpiece match.
Data Debrief: Sabalenka's unwanted record
Sabalenka has dropped 60 games at this year's Madrid Open. That makes her the player with the most games dropped en route to reaching the final since the tournament's inception in 2009.
The world number two had to dig deep in a match which saw Rybakina win more total points (99 to 95), but she will not mind one bit if she goes on to capture a third Madrid Open title on Saturday.
Lehecka into maiden Masters semi-final after Medvedev retires hurt
Jiri Lehecka progressed to the first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final of his career as Daniil Medvedev retired hurt on Thursday at the Madrid Open.
Lehecka, who beat the great Rafael Nadal in the last 16, had just taken the first set 6-4 when Medvedev threw in the towel.
Medvedev had earlier received treatment from the physio, having seemingly struggled when moving to his right side.
"It's never easy in a match like this," Lehecka said. "If I were to choose the way how to win this match, it wouldn't be like that.
"So of course, it's never easy to see your opponent struggling, but at that moment, you just need to focus on yourself, trying to get the maximum level out of yourself."
Lehecka will face Felix Auger-Aliassime, who progressed thanks to a walkover following Jannik Sinner's withdrawal, for a place in the final.
Data Debrief: Czech mates
Lehecka is the third Czech player to reach the semi-finals in Madrid, following Jiri Vovak and Tomas Berdych.
Should Lehecka reach the final, he will move into the top 20 of the ATP rankings for the first time.
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