Marketa Vondrousova cited being dumped by sponsor Nike as a driving factor behind her surprise Wimbledon victory.
The Czech emerged as one of the most unlikely champions at the All England Club and the first unseeded women’s winner with a 6-4 6-4 victory against favourite Ons Jabeur.
Vondrousova’s success was all the more surprising given her lack of pedigree on grass and a long injury absence last year following wrist surgery, and her failure to build on her run to the 2019 French Open final meant her clothing contract with Nike was not renewed.
“The contract ended last year and I didn’t play for six months,” she said.
“I was a bit sad when it finished but I was like, ‘We’re going to try to find something else, just show them I’m going to be good, I’m going to play good and we’ll see what happens now’. But I also feel like maybe that’s a good thing that drove me here.”
Vondrousova’s victory continued the extraordinary success story that is Czech women’s tennis.
She joins Petra Kvitova and Barbora Krejcikova as active grand slam champions while she will make her top-10 debut on Monday as one of seven Czech women in the top 35.
Vondrousova remembers watching her fellow left-hander Kvitova winning back in 2011 as a 12-year-old, saying: “I think I was probably on the couch eating some candy.
“Petra is also from a small club, from a small city, and she is a huge inspiration.
“I watched her win here and she is great person and girls from Czech are very supportive, we have a great relationship. Just to see they could do it, then you believe you can do it also.
“We practise in different clubs, we are not even together, so maybe there is something about Czechs.”
Vondrousova grew up in the small town of Sokolov, with her grandfather driving her to Prague for training every week before she moved to the capital by herself at 15 to develop her tennis.
“It’s a two-hour drive so we went for maybe Wednesday and Thursday and then went back home and I went to school. It’s an amazing journey,” she said.
One of Vondrousova’s first acts after she lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish was to call her mother and her grandparents back home.
She said of her grandfather: “He is my biggest fan. To see them so happy, I’m really grateful for it because there is so much hard work and he was really the most important person in my tennis career when I was young.”
Vondrousova’s best run at Wimbledon prior to this year had been in 2021 when she lost to Emma Raducanu in the second round.
Her game, though, built on touch, slice and angles rather than power, is a good fit for grass, making this victory slightly less unexpected than at first glance.
She credits an early coach and her slightness of stature for the way her game has developed, saying: “I had one coach in my home town who taught me how to slice and everything.
“I just feel like I was always the smallest one and I just didn’t have that much power, so I had to do something else to win. You can use it really well and you have many options, so that’s a great thing to have.”
While her parents were not in London, Vondrousova was able to celebrate with her younger sister and husband, who passed over cat-sitting duties to fly over for the final.
The couple were planning to celebrate their first wedding anniversary on Sunday with a special date at the Champions Dinner.
Sabalenka goes the distance again to progress at Madrid Open
Aryna Sabalenka was forced to go the distance again at the Madrid Open as she battled past Robin Montgomery on Sunday.
Sabalenka, the reigning Madrid Open champion, needed three sets to win her second-round tie against Magda Linette on Friday, and the second seed did not have an easy ride against American Montgomery.
However, she eventually got over the line, triumphing 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 to tee up a last-16 meeting with Danielle Collins, who defeated Jaqueline Cristian 3-6 6-4 6-1.
Collins has now reeled off 15 straight wins, having won the Miami Open and Charleston Open in recent weeks, and has progressed to the last 16 in Madrid for the first time in her career.
The American said: "I've been doing so well the last couple of weeks, I think the girls know that when they come out and play me, they've got to go for it.
"That certainly was taking place the last two matches, some big shots that I've had to counter, and be able to react quickly."
Data Debrief: Sabalenka up there with Serena
Sabalenka has now won 14 of her 17 matches at the Madrid Open, which she won in 2023 and 2021.
Since the inception of the tournament, only Serena Williams (15) has won more of her first 17 matches at the event.
Alcaraz's pursuit for third straight Madrid Open crown continues by defeating Seyboth Wild
Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open title as he comfortably beat Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round on Sunday.
Back in his home country of Spain, Alcaraz eased to a 6-3 6-3 triumph to set up a fourth-round clash with Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat in last year's final.
The first six games of the opening set went to serve, but Alcaraz found a crucial break in the seventh and ninth games of the set to put him in pole position for victory, a lead he would not relinquish as he overcame being broken in the seventh game of the second set to seal his safe progression.
Holger Rune was a surprise casualty as the world number 12 was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Tallon Griekspoor, though world number eight Andrey Rublev eased through with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Data debrief
With his triumph over Seyboth Wild at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz has now won 93.3 per cent of his games at the tournament. That is the highest win percentage of any player with at least 10 games played in a single ATP-1000 event since the format was introduced in 1990.
Against Seyboth Wild, Alcaraz won 27 of his 31 first-serve points, also recording 19 winners to his opponent's 10 as he dominated the contest on his way to victory.
Rybakina eases past Sherif to reach Madrid Open last 16
Elena Rybakina cruised past Mayar Sherif in straight sets to reach the last 16 of the Madrid Open on Sunday.
World number four Rybakina rarely looked like being troubled by Sherif, easing to a 6-1 6-4 triumph, winning 22 of her 26 first-serve points on her way to victory.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion broke Sherif's serve twice in the first set to gain control of the match, before holding her serve five times in the second to ensure victory.
Also into the last 16 in Madrid are Yulia Putintseva and Daria Kasatkina, who beat Caroline Dolehide and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova respectively, both in straight sets. However, world number seven and reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova is out after she was upset by Mirra Andreeva, losing 7-5 6-1.
Data debrief
In reaching the Madrid Open last 16, Rybakina again showed her class on clay. Her victory over Sherif saw her become only the fourth player in the last 10 years to win 14 straight WTA matches on clay, alongside Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Iga Swiatek.
Additionally, Rybakina's 475 winners at WTA-1000 events in 2024 are 112 more than the next best, Danielle Collins with 363.
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