Marketa Vondrousova has been a surprise package at Wimbledon this year (one of several it must be said) and is now one match away from the Wimbledon final. The 24-year-old had never looked at home on the grass until this year, previously previously never making it past the second round at the All England Club. However, this year the unseeded Czech has stormed into the semifinals.
Her run has not come as a complete surprise – she reached the French Open final at 19 and has an Olympic silver medal to her name – but it is fair to say that you could have got long odds on her being amongst the last four players standing at Wimbledon.
Vondrousova started her tournament with a fairly straightforward first-round win against another unseeded player, Payton Stearns. The second round saw the Czech defeat the 12th seed Veronika Kudermetova. Kudermetova had also never gone beyond the second round at Wimbledon and they went into the match with a level head-to-head, though the Russian was the favourite.
Vondrousova made light of that, however, dismissing Kudermetova 6-3 6-3 to reach the third round for the first time at Wimbledon.
With nothing now to prove about her grass-court credentials, the Czech seemed to relax. Against 20th seed Donna Vekic, who is something of a grass-court specialist, the 24-year-old dominated the first set. Vekic tried to fight back in the second set, but Vondrousova held her nerve to progress a 6-1 7-5 winner.
That set up a fourth-round clash with her compatriot Marie Bouzkova. Bouzkova took the first set, but the unseeded Vondrousova was up for the fight rallying past Bouzkova, 2-6 6-4 6-3 to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the Australian Open in 2019. She went on to reach the semifinals that year in Melbourne and has now repeated the trick in London.
Jessica Pegula provided a tough challenge however. The first set was evenly contested, until a late break swing it Vondrousova’s way, but the American fought back to level proceedings. Ultimately, however, Vondrousova was not to be denied, edging past Pegula and into the last four a 6-4 2-6 6-4 winner.
She will be pitted against Elina Svitolina in the last four. The Ukranian and Czech have played each other five times on the main tour and, although Svitolina leads the head-to-head, it was Vondrousova who has won their two most recent meetings to bring the head to head closer. Can Vondrousova make a second Grand Slam final, or will the wildcard make her first final at this level? Only time will tell, but it certainly promises to be an entertaining affair.
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
