It was previous nightfall when Marketa Vondrousova and her coach, Jan Hernych, made it again to their rented home close to the Southfields Underground Station, virtually a mile from the All England Garden Tennis Membership. Hours earlier, Vondrousova had crushed Ons Jabeur, 6-4, 6-4, to grow to be the primary unseeded participant within the Open period to win the Wimbledon girls’s singles title.
Ready for Vondrousova on the home had been members of the family, coaches and shut pals. Lots of them had been inebriated from a mix of champagne and beer, together with Hernych.
“I simply went for the press and after two hours I got here again and so they had been all drunk,” stated Vondrousova throughout a cellphone interview in late Could. It’s her fondest reminiscence of that Wimbledon win and what she thinks about most frequently as she begins the protection of her title on Centre Courtroom this Tuesday.
“I all the time take into consideration my household and the celebration with my field,” stated Vondrousova, who marked the event by including a tattoo of the numbers 150723, the date of the ultimate, to a physique already dotted with tattoo artistry. “That was the principle factor that I needed to do since I used to be enjoying within the last.”
Vondrousova’s profession has been a sequence of spirals. The Czech, who turned 25 final week, was the top-ranked junior on this planet and gained her first profession title, in Biel, Switzerland, when she was 17. She additionally reached the ultimate of the 2019 French Open, shedding to Ashleigh Barty, 6-1, 6-3, and captured a silver medal on the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Vondrousova has additionally been injured. She has had two wrist surgical procedures that sidelined her for greater than six months shortly after her 2019 run on the French Open.
Ranked No. 42 getting into Wimbledon final 12 months, Vondrousova referred to as her run to the title “loopy,” partly as a result of, getting into, she had gained only one match in 4 earlier makes an attempt there. The defining match was a comeback victory over Jessica Pegula, who led their quarterfinal by 4-1 within the third set earlier than Vondrousova gained 5 consecutive video games.
“She will play on any floor,” Hernych stated. “She’s very aggressive, however she has selection and may hit a number of pictures that different gamers can’t do. She has unbelievable contact and superb response time.”
Weeks earlier than Vondrousova gained Wimbledon, her shut buddy Karolina Muchova reached the French Open last, earlier than shedding to Iga Swiatek in three units. The loss made Vondrousova cry. An admitted sentimentalist, Vondrousova additionally felt unhappy for Jabeur after beating her at Wimbledon.
“It was truly very robust to watch Ons cry as a result of I knew how a lot she needed it,” stated Vondrousova, who’s now ranked No. 6. “I felt the identical in Paris after which in Tokyo, so I do know the sensation. However that’s tennis.”
A lot has occurred to Vondrousova within the final 12 months. At first of this season she suffered from a mysterious virus that made her really feel like her physique was “falling aside,” she stated. In March, her grandfather died, forcing her to drag out of the Miami Open and return to Prague. Extra lately, her marriage to Stepan Simek, whom she wed in 2022, dissolved. In methods, Vondrousova stated, the adversity has bolstered her.
“Even if you’re OK you’ll be able to really feel it on the court docket generally,” stated Vondrousova, who retired midmatch with a proper hip damage throughout a event in Berlin on June 20. “However tennis might help you to be higher and stronger, too.”
It was her loss to Barty on the French Open that taught Vondrousova to benefit from the second as a substitute of worrying concerning the final result. She was decided to do this at Wimbledon final 12 months. However will she be capable of comply with her personal recommendation once more this 12 months?
“This 12 months in fact she’s going to really feel extra stress because the defending champion,” Hernych stated. “Final 12 months she was relaxed as a result of she didn’t anticipate a lot.”
Vondrousova stated it was going to be anxious to return to Centre Courtroom.
“I can simply say to myself to be calm and that you simply gained so you don’t have anything to show,” she stated. “I simply need to take pleasure in it, and we’ll see what’s going to occur.”