It was a fairy tale all right, just not the one that the Centre Court crowd came to see.
For Marketa Vondrousova, merely to be playing tennis at all represents a triumph. At the age of 24, the gifted Czech southpaw has spent almost as much time in the rehabilitation room as she has on court. She has overcome long-term injury on three occasions, most recently in May last year, when she underwent surgery on her left wrist for the second time in four years.
A former junior world No 1 who was still a teenager when she reached her first grand slam final four years ago at Roland Garros, Vondrousova began this season uncertain that she would ever again recapture the form that once carried her to No 14 in the world. There was, therefore, undeniable romance in the 6-3, 6-3 victory over Elina Svitolina that earned the world No 42 a place in Saturday’s Wimbledon final, the first unseeded player to achieve that distinction in the open era.
“After everything I’ve been through, two surgeries, it’s not always easy to come back,” said Vondrousova. “You don’t know if you can play at this level and if you can be back at the top and back at these tournaments. I’m just grateful to be on a court again, to play without pain. I’m just really grateful for it.”
Yet for Svitolina, this was the cruellest of defeats. The war in her native Ukraine has infused the 28-year-old with a newfound sense of mission. After her dramatic quarter-final win over Iga Swiatek, the former world No 3 spoke movingly of how seeing videos of children following her matches in her war-torn homeland made her heart “melt”. Her unwavering support for her country, both on and off the court, has drawn universal admiration.
Svitolina’s place in the public affections has been cemented further by her remarkable achievements in the three months since she returned from maternity leave, which include a first title in almost two years in Strasbourg and a quarter-final run at Roland Garros. No champion would have been more popular.
But Svitolina, shouldering the hopes of a people for whom any scintilla of joy is precious at this time, was unable to reproduce the form that has carried her past four grand slam champions over the past 11 days. Hard though they tried, her Centre Court supporters were unable to lift her to victory. An error-strewn performance left the wild card overwrought with emotion.
“I got a lot of messages from different people, it’s unbelievable that they been there with me all the way,” said Svitolina, fighting back tears. “Hopefully they continue.
“For sure it’s a big motivation, but [also] it’s a lot of responsibility, a lot of tension. I try to balance it as much as I can.
“Sometimes it gets maybe too much. But I don’t want to take it as an excuse that I lost today. I try to take it as a motivation for me. I just hope that Ukrainian people continue supporting me.”
That much is not in doubt. Determination was etched in Svitolina’s features throughout, but for all her redoubtable tenacity and fighting spirit, she could find no answer to Vondrousova’s extraordinary range and variety. The Czech, who combines a whippy forehand with a knifed sliced backhand, a difficult lefty serve and a drop shot that must surely be the envy of every woman on tour save Ons Jabeur, rarely gave Svitolina the same ball twice. Her rhythm-disrupting changes of pace, spin and trajectory drew 24 unforced errors from the Ukrainian while limiting her to a paltry nine winners.
After a sequence of three consecutive breaks, Vondrousova found herself in control of the first set at 4-3. That began a run of seven consecutive games for the Czech, whose confidence flowed as freely as her movement. One audacious running forehand, sliced viciously beyond the incoming Svitolina as she served to stay in the opener, drew a broad grin from Vondrousova. Another was struck with such sweet venom that Jan Kodes, the Czech men’s champion of 50 years ago, rose to his feet to applaud from his vantage point in the royal box.
Yet even as Vondrousova stood within two games of the final at a set and 4-0 to the good, it felt almost as though Svitolina had yet to start. A key element in the outstanding run that took her past Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka and Swiatek, with their combined tally of 14 majors, was a newfound readiness to take on her shots rather than rely on her skills as a counter-puncher. Only now, with the contest seemingly beyond her, did Svitolina begin to show that dimension of her game, breaking twice to get back on serve. It was not to last, Vondrousova holding her nerve to stem the tide and see out a famous victory.
“I should have found a better way to deal with Marketa’s game style,” said Svitolina. “She’s a very tricky opponent. She gets lots of balls back.
“I tried to fight back and just give everything out there, even though I didn’t play my best.”
As for Vondrousova, she will now face Jabeur, the sixth seed, who scored a 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3 upset over Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion and world No 2. Vondrousova has played the Tunisian twice this year, winning both times.
“I feel like we’re the same in some things,” said Vondrousova. “We’re playing dropshots. We’re playing slice.”
Another area of common ground is that, on Saturday afternoon, one of them will become a grand slam champion for the first time. Once again, a fairy tale is guaranteed.