Tops
Second final in two years at Church Road for the Tunisian! At the end of a huge showdown, Ons Jabeur won at the end of the suspense in 2h19 (6-7, 6-4, 6-3). The sixth player in the world, finalist last season, just like at the US Open, finds the last step with this time the status of favorite, Saturday against Vondrousova. Carried by the English public, she overthrew the powerful Aryna Sabalenka after overpowering defending champion Elena Rybakina the day before. Like the day before, she conceded the first set. And like the day before, when she seemed overwhelmed by the power of her opponent, she was able to find the resources to change the scenario of the match. Very solid on her face-offs (79% of points won behind her first ball and 64% behind her second ball) and above all much more regular than her opponent (14 unforced errors against 45) the “Minister of Happiness” struck again and marked history. Tunisia is celebrating, the Arab world and the African continent as well.
Very quiet winner of the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina after a fight of 1h15 (6-3, 6-3), the 42nd in the world became the first non-seeded player to reach the Wimbledon final from the start. of the Open era (1968). For her baptism of fire on center court, the 24-year-old Czech never seemed to experience any stress for her semi-final on the London turf. His game while variation destabilized the 76th world quickly exceeded. Leading 4-0, 40-0 on opposing service, in the second act, the Czech was finally caught up a little by the pressure. Svitolina came back to 4-3, before conceding two consecutive games. Before this 2023 edition, the Olympic silver medalist had only reached… the second round in London. And as at the Olympics, the left-hander dominated Elina Svitolina.
Flops
The Belarusian had the opportunity to take the world lead if she beat Ons Jabeur this Friday. Missed. As at Roland-Garros against Karolina Muchova, in the semi-finals already, she did not assume her status as favorite, letting slip a match that she nevertheless mastered. She led 7-6, 4-2 and had just signed ten consecutive points before getting stuck, overtaken by nervousness. Maybe she thought of world number one? The fault also with the pugnacious Ons Jabeur. Nevertheless, the Belarusian had all the cards in hand to play a first Wimbledon final against a player she had beaten three times in their four confrontations on the circuit. But Sabalenka, who also committed 45 faults, direct, will have to learn to conclude…
No final in this Wimbledon 2023 for the Ukrainian, victim of a huge stroke in the middle of the first round. After a balanced start to the match, the former world number 3 has conceded seven consecutive games. In a negative spiral, out of breath and running out of ideas, the player benefiting from a wild card was unable to stop the bleeding at the start of the second set, and was never able to reverse the course of the match. , despite a slump from the Czech, when concluding. A sad conclusion to a fortnight rich in emotions.
