"I didn't play many matches on grass before": Marketa Vondrousova

LONDON: For the first time in the history of Wimbledon an unseeded player made it through to the women's somgles final, as Czech tennis star Marketa Vondrousova sealed her place in the summit clash after defeating Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina in the Women's Single semi-final match on Thursday.

After the win, she said, 'I didn't play many matches on grass before.'

Marketa Vondrousova marked her passage to only her second, career Grand Slam final with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Svitolina in the Wimbledon semifinals.

Vondrousova will face No.6 seed Ons Jabeur in Saturday's final.

Marketa Vondrousova told WTA, "I didn't play many matches on grass before, My best Wimbledon was second round. For me, when it was clay or hard, maybe I would say, yeah, maybe it's possible. But the grass was impossible for me.It's even crazier that this is happening."

Vondrousova was also unseeded when she made her previous Grand Slam final as a 19-year-old at the 2019 Roland Garros, where she finished runner-up to Ashleigh Barty. Vondrousova said,

"A previous Grand Slam final can help you also on the way, you know what to do. You know you have to have good people around you.Definitely, it can help. I mean, I'm a bit older now also. I think I'm a bit different person. I'm just very happy to be through this again."

"After everything, I've been through, two surgeries, it's not always easy to come back," Vondrousova said, adding, "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 just feel like I'm just grateful to be on a court again, to play without pain. I'm just really grateful for it."

She added, "When I saw the draw, it wasn't easy. I was like, 'Let's try.' I beat Kudermetova, Vekic. They are great on grass. I was like, 'OK, maybe, you know, I'll get better and I can do something here.' For me, it's really crazy this is happening.

But I think anything can happen in tennis." In the unseeded match, Vondrousova defeated Svitolina in a see-saw battle that lasted one hour and 15 minutes. Svitolina was playing only her second Grand Slam event this year since returning from maternity leave in April.

Vondrousova was more efficient with her first serve, winning 74 per cent of the points while Svitolina won less than half. Vondrousova had 22 wins against Svitolina's nine, despite committing only one more unforced error.

With a scorching backhand serve return, Vondrousova seized control of the opening set, breaking Svitolina to secure a 4-3 lead. Two games later, the Czech struck a forehand winner to earn set point, which she converted following Svitolina's wayward forehand.

Vondrousova led 4-0 in the second set and 40-0 in the game to go 5-0 up. But Svitolina was determined to win a three-setter as she had done in the previous rounds against Victoria Azarenka and World No.1 Iga Swiatek.

She drew mistakes from Vondrousova to lead 4-3. Svitolina's momentum was broken by three mistakes and a double fault in her following service game, as Vondrousova broke for 5-3. Vondrousova reached match point with her fourth ace of the day at 30-30, and another scorching serve clinched her triumph. following Svitolina's wayward forehand.