Wimbledon champion Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova in Prague.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
“On grass, I didn’t play well before. I think it was the most impossible Grand Slam for me to win. When we came, I was just like, ‘Try to win a couple of matches’. Now this happened, it’s crazy”, said Marketa Vondrousova with Wimbledon’s Venus Rosewater Dish in her hands on Saturday, July 14, 2023. It was curious that the former junior number 1, winner of the WTA 250 while ranked 233, and a Tokyo Olympics silver medallist arrived in the final with a questionable level of self-assurance.
In the first set and leading five games to four, Vondrousova had not only endured an early break of serve but also the Centre Court’s cacophony that was defiantly backing world number 6 Ons Jabeur from Tunisia. Vondrousova was, on paper in-form, having beaten world number 3 Elina Svitolina and world number 4 Jessica Pegula en route to the finals. At this point in time, the commentator observed, “What a turnaround we have here”. But it was hardly the biggest turnaround the unseeded Czech had achieved in her career.
An iterative development
In 2022 around this time, Vondrosouva was in the Wimbledon stands, with her left arm in a cast. She was healing a second wrist surgery and rooting for her friend and doubles partner, Miriam Kolodziejova. Marketa Vondrousova had been sidelined from professional tennis for six months, from April to October.
A closer look into her career shows her tendency to relinquish matches from strong positions.
Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova serves to Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur during the women’s singles final on day thirteen of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London
| Photo Credit:
AP
Marketa Vondrousova, like many athletes, grew up with sports in her DNA. Her father, David Vondrous, who played tennis for pleasure, encouraged her to take up the sport at the age of 4. Her mother, Jindriska Anderlova, was a professional volleyball player for SK Slavia Prague in the top-tier volleyball league Czech Extraliga. After dabbling in many other sports, Marketa focused on tennis from the age of 6. When she entered the ITF Junior Circuit at the age of 13, she had already won the Nike Junior Tour International Masters in the U.S. and some praise for competing with older athletes. From there on, she established herself more as a doubles player, often partnering with compatriot Miriam Kolodziejova with whom in 2015, she won the 2015…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at | The Hindu…