Vondrousova beats Svitolina to become first unseeded Wimbledon women’s finalist in 60 years

Marketa Vondrousova became the first unseeded women’s finalist at Wimbledon since Billie Jean King in 1963, knocking out Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday by completing seven consecutive games in one sitting and then holding on for the win .

Vondrousova is a 24-year-old southpaw from the Czech Republic who ranks 43rd. She reached the second Grand Slam final of her career after making it this far at the 2019 French Open as a teenager.

“I was insanely nervous,” said Vondrouova, who bowed her head and knelt at the baseline when the game was over. “I was actually nervous the whole game.”

On Saturday she will compete against No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka or No. 6 seed Ons Jabeur, the 2022 runner-up at Wimbledon.

Ranked No. 76 and also unseeded, Svitolina returned to the tour after maternity leave just three months ago. Trying to become the first woman from Ukraine to make it to the title match in a major tennis tournament, she received loud support from thousands in the crowd, with applause and cries echoing from the closed roof of Center Court.

“She’s such a fighter,” said Vondrousova, compiling a 22-9 lead in aggregate winners, “and she’s such a great person, too.”

Svitolina has said that she plays more freely and calmly these days, which she attributed to the dual motivation to play for her baby daughter, who was born in October, and to bring happiness to people in her homeland, where an ongoing war started with the invasion of Russia in February 2022.

And then came something of a course correction. At 4-0, 40-love, Vondrousova was one point away from a 5-0 lead. Indeed, she ended up with five chances to take one point for that huge margin. But she couldn’t quite do it, and Svitolina suddenly shot up to come within 4-3.

However, Vondrousova recovered and ended that mini-series by collecting the final two games to advance to the finals. She missed much of last season due to surgery on her left wrist, but she’s now back at the peak of her abilities and back in the spotlight of a Grand Slam final.

A year ago she came to Wimbledon with a cast on that arm to watch her best friend play in the qualifying rounds.

“Last year I didn’t play for six months. You never know if you can get back to that level,” Vondrousova said. “And I’m just so grateful to be here and to be healthy. To play tennis again.”

Asked during her court interview how she plans to prepare for Saturday, Vondrousova laughed.

“I’m just going to chill now,” she replied.