By Erik Gudris | @ATNTennis | Saturday July 15, 2023
Marketa Vondrousova added her name to a long and stellar list of Czech-born women to win the coveted Wimbledon Ladies’ singles title.
The 24-year-old and unseeded native of Sokolov, Czech Republic won her first major title 6-4, 6-4 over No. 6 seed Ons Jabeur.
Czech-born women players have long thrived on the grass of the All-England Club. By far the greatest Wimbledon singles champion is Martina Navratilova. The all-time great Navratilova still holds the record for winning the most Wimbledon singles championships in the Open Era, man or woman, at nine titles total.
Navratilova, who was born in then Czechoslovakia, before defecting and becoming a U.S. citizen in 1981 won the first of her nine Wimbledon titles in 1978 over Chris Evert 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.
After winning six consecutive Wimbledon titles from 1982 to 1987, she won her final Wimbledon title in 1990 over surprise finalist Zina Garrison 6-4, 6-1.
And then there’s the inspiring story of Jana Novotna.
Novotna, who like Navratilova found great success with the serve and volley, needed three tries to win the Wimbledon title.
In 1993, Novotna led Steffi Graf 4-1 in the final set before losing her nerve and then the match as Graf went onto win the final for one of her seven Wimbledon titles.
Novotna famously cried on the shoulder of the then Duchess of Kent during the trophy ceremony. Novotna would need two more tries to win her coveted Wimbledon title. She lost in the 1997 final to Martina Hingis.
Finally, in 1998, Novotna secured the championship in her third final over France’s Natalie Tauziat 6-4, 7-6(2).
Sadly Novotna passed away from cancer, at age 49, in 2017.
Petra Kvitova became the next Czech great to claim Wimbledon.
With her powerful lefty serve and potent groundstrokes, Kvitova raced past Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 to win her first Wimbledon title in 2011.
Martina Navratilova, who sat in the Royal Box, during the match, cried tears of joy at seeing Kvitova win the title.
Kvitova would repeat as Wimbledon champion a few years later in 2014 with a commanding 6-3, 6-0 performance over Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard.
With her Wimbledon victory, Vondrousova will make her top-ten ranking debut next week.
Photo Credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty