After a complicated first round, Elena Rybakina was able to enter the match to get the better of Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final and win her first title in a Grand Slam tournament.
Elena Rybakina put an end to the dream of an entire continent. Opposed to Ons Jabeur, the first African representative in the final of a Grand Slam tournament, the Kazakh was able to raise her head after a far from obvious start to the match on the grass of the Center Court. Indeed, the Tunisian was able to strike first, going to seek the service of the native of Moscow from the third game. The world number 2 could have made matters worse from the next engagement of the 23rd in the WTA rankings.
If the two finalists then held firm, Elena Rybakina gave up her serve a second time on a shutout and then found herself a set behind after a little over half an hour. It was then that this Wimbledon final began to look like the quarter-final between Elena Rybakina and Ajla Tomljanovic. Indeed, back to the wall, the Kazakh regained her momentum and reversed the trend. Taking the service of Ons Jabeur from the start, the seeded number 17 of the tournament was able to fly away on the scoreboard. If the Tunisian had no less than four chances to erase this late break, it was Elena Rybakina who banged her fist on the table.
Elena Rybakina rises to the occasion ✨
In its centenary year, Center Court crowns a new Ladies’ Singles champion#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/Wabfr0GTdS
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2022
Rybakina saw Jabeur collapse
Indeed, the Kazakh did not tremble when going for the double break to lead five games to one. Without forcing her talent, the 23rd in the world showed patience to equalize at one set everywhere on a last shutout. An ascendancy that Elena Rybakina did not take long to confirm at the start of the third and last set of this fortnight concerning the ladies’ singles. From the first game, on her second break point, the one who represented Russia until 2018 took the service of an Ons Jabeur who gradually tensed up when she was announced as the favorite in this final.
A tension that grew when, in the sixth game, she missed three opportunities to erase her late service game. In the aftermath, Elena Rybakina had fewer scruples. Indeed, the Kazakh has consolidated her advantage with a second break. The last service game was a formality for her, who concluded this final with her first match point. While she had not done better than a Grand Slam quarter-final in her career, Elena Rybakina joins the long list of players who have lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish. Ons Jabeur, meanwhile, may miss a golden opportunity to celebrate African tennis.
