Latest news with #MarkétaVondroušová
New York Times
17-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur steps back from tennis to ‘rediscover the joy of simply living'
Former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur has announced she is taking a step back from tennis to 'rediscover the joy of simply living'. The two-time Wimbledon finalist said in a statement on her social media that she has not 'felt happy on the court for some time now' and believes it is time to 'take a step back and finally put (herself) first'. Jabeur retired from her first-round match against Viktoriya Tomova at The All England Club this year due to injury. She was a set and a break behind when she shook hands with the Bulgarian after calling for a medical time-out. Thank you for your support 🙏🏻❤️ — Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) July 17, 2025 The 30-year-old reached the finals of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2022 before again getting to the final at The All England Club a year later. The straight sets defeat by Markéta Vondroušová in 2023 was described by Jabeur as the most painful of her career. The 2025 season has seen Jabeur knocked out of the French Open in the first round, after she was forced to end her season last year early due to a shoulder injury. Her injury problems recurred as she strained a leg muscle in this year's Miami Open. She did not indicate in her announcement when she would return to tennis. 'For the past two years, I've been pushing myself so hard, fighting through injuries and facing many other challenges,' her message said. 'But deep down, I haven't felt truly happy on the court for some time now. 'Tennis is such a beautiful sport. But right now, I feel it's time to take a step back and finally put myself first: to breathe, to heal, and to rediscover the joy of simply living. 'Thank you to all my fans for understanding. Your support and love mean the world to me. I carry it with me always. 'Even while I'm away from the court, I'll continue to stay close and connected in different ways, and share this journey with you all.'
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Raducanu shows how she can close the gap on the tennis big guns
Emma Raducanu of Great Britain reacts to a point during her match against Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed beating the home hope 7-6 6-4 (Reuters via Beat Media Group subscription) By James Toney at Wimbledon Emma Raducanu has spent four years countering the unfair but persistent suggestion that she was a lucky winner. In defeat, perhaps she has finally silenced the doubters. Raducanu has not had much to smile about since her US Open triumph four years ago, when she became the first player in the Open era to come through qualifying to win a major title. However, after some reflection and perspective, she may come to consider her 7-6 6-4 loss to top seed Aryna Sabalenka in a Wimbledon thriller her greatest 'victory' since that improbable night at Flushing Meadows. Advertisement There is a good chance no one will push Sabalenka harder in her pursuit of a fourth Grand Slam title in the coming days. Many players wilt under the Belarusian's power, but not Raducanu. Her tactics were finely tuned and, almost, spot on. This was a match of narrow margins, small sliding-door moments deciding who would advance to the last 16. The British No 1 will reflect on her missed opportunities: a set point in the opener that went begging and a break point when she led 4–1 in the second. Raducanu had arrived at the All England Club managing expectations. She cruised through her first-round match against fellow Briton Mimi Xu, then beat former champion Markéta Vondroušová in straight sets, dropping just 12 games across both matches. There were fears that Sabalenka, who had beaten Raducanu convincingly in their only previous encounter, would overpower her again. Her last outing against a top-five player, Iga Świątek in Paris, had lasted barely an hour and was a difficult watch even for her most devoted fans. Advertisement Sabalenka's game is about more than brute force — she closed out the match with the deftest of drop shots — but her power remains the cornerstone of her success. Her fastest serve reached 121mph, and she outperformed Raducanu in both first and second serve statistics, a margin that ultimately proved decisive. "The positives are that I was toe to toe with her," Raducanu said. "It gives me confidence that I'm not as far away as I perhaps thought before the tournament, but at the same time, it's very difficult to take right now. "I'd felt like I was gulfs away from the very top players, but having a match like that, where I had chances in both sets, it does give me more belief. Previously, when I was playing these top-five players, the loss was pretty convincing. Advertisement "I actually went into this match feeling more confident, but I think there's a clear difference in the first serve. I think that's something I need to improve. "I'm always quite critical — I didn't execute all the time — but I think I returned really well, considering she's got one of the best serves in the game. "I think when I look back at my career, I'm really going to remember that match, because you play for those moments. "I don't think I've really had a loss like this in a long time, where I feel like I maybe had chances and didn't take them. I think usually I'm pretty good at converting." Since that breakthrough in New York, Raducanu's struggles with her coaching setup have been well chronicled. Six permanent coaches have come and gone for various reasons. She appears to have benefitted from the presence of Mark Petchey and Nick Cavaday, long-time figures in her development via the Lawn Tennis Association. Home tournaments bring added pressure, but Wimbledon is a place where Raducanu can also draw strength from a wider network of family and friends. Advertisement "Mark agreed to help me until the end of Wimbledon, and then we'll see from there because he gave up some work to be here with me, which I really appreciate," she added. "That's a conversation we need to have after a few days when the dust settles a bit, because it is going to take me some time to process this. "I want to get straight back to work because it's not far. There are still a lot of things I want to improve, a lot of things I want to do better to solidify my game so that in big moments I can back myself a bit more." For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website.
New York Times
02-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Emma Raducanu, Marketa Vondrousova and a tale of two Grand Slam champions
THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB, LONDON — In a parallel universe, Wednesday's Wimbledon matchup between Grand Slam champions Emma Raducanu and Markéta Vondroušová is a second-week showdown between two top-10 players. Maybe one day it will be. In this universe, it is something else: a duel of two cautionary tales. Tales of the highs of shooting-star success, followed by injury-riddled lows. Tales of the stress of enough expectations, both internal and external to last a career. All of which have happened in what should be the first years of their careers, heavy with the pressure to do what they have already done all over again. Advertisement 'She had it way worse because she is from a bigger country,' Vondroušová, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, said of Raducanu in her news conference after beating McCartney Kessler, the No. 32 seed, in her opening match. Perhaps, but Raducanu, 22, has watched what Vondroušová has gone through as a kindred spirit. She remembers seeing the Czech make the French Open final as an unseeded 19-year-old, the same age Raducanu was when she won the U.S. Open as a qualifier. 'She was so young there, always seemed way above me, way further ahead than me,' Raducanu said in a news conference. 'Then she had a wrist surgery and then came back and won Wimbledon, which is incredible.' Raducanu and Vondroušová played each other at Wimbledon in 2021. That was out on Court 12, when Raducanu was a largely unknown wild card making a surprise run to the round of 16 just weeks after taking her university admission test. By the end of the summer, she was the first British woman to win a Grand Slam since Virginia Wade in 1977. For Vondroušová, that was a couple of tennis lifetimes and one wrist surgery ago. She first had a wrist operation in 2019, following that surprise French Open run. Last year, she had shoulder surgery, before playing barely any matches during the first half of this year as she tried to recover. Last month, she finally played three pain-free matches, at the French Open. She wasn't even upset when Jessica Pegula eliminated her in three sets. She was just happy to be able to compete again, especially with the grass and Wimbledon on the horizon. Then she beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on her way to winning the Berlin Open, her first title since she won at the All England Club in 2023. Now she is back at the scene of her greatest achievement. It has been a strange trip to get here — or perhaps it hasn't. Every year, at every Grand Slam, tennis fools fans, commentators and even the players themselves. Early success has the power to seduce, to make anyone think that more success must follow, even though at this point, everyone ought to know that that the sport almost never works that way. Advertisement It's a dynamic Mirra Andreeva, the 18-year-old Russian, has been fighting in real time the past couple of months. Andreeva is not just the only teenager in the top 10; she's one of only two in the top 80. Maya Joint is the other. Andreeva won consecutive WTA 1,000 events — the level just below the Grand Slams — earlier this year, including Indian Wells, the so-called fifth major. Since working with Conchita Martinez, herself a teen star in the 1980s, she had seemed to have gotten hold of a temper typical for a teenager under the stress of elite sport. But then came the second set of a French Open quarterfinal last month, in which she found herself losing to Loïs Boisson, the local wild card. The scoreboard, and the 15,000 people on Court Philippe-Chatrier willing the upset, had Andreeva yelling at members of her box to leave the court and swatting a ball high up to the roof. As it came back down, 15,000 loud boos came with it. Andreeva dissolved in straight sets, and two weeks later, she was smacking a ball into the crowd in Berlin, after a call she didn't like led to a crucial break of serve. In the moment, or just after it, Andreeva knows that she's fallen victim to what has afflicted so many young players before her. They've done big things before, and they can't understand why they can't do do them all the time, even though no one, not even Serena Williams, ever has. 'We're the ones that are putting pressure on ourselves,' Andreeva said in an interview at Wimbledon Tuesday, after she beat Mayar Sherif in straight sets. 'It's a matter of time until me personally I, I learn how to deal with it.' She keeps quotes from other well-known athletes, including LeBron James, in a notebook she sometimes refers to during changeovers. Sometimes they work better than others. 'I'm already making progress, but of course there is a long way to go,' Andreeva said. Advertisement Vondroušová and Raducanu have had to remind themselves of that a lot. Raducanu struggled to find her form after her breakout win at the U.S. Open. Then her body came under the stress of her first full seasons on the tour. There were stretches when she could barely practice and had to enter tournaments and matches cold. For someone whose body hadn't really abandoned her before, it didn't make a lot of sense. That disorientation can be heavier than the pressure that comes with millions of dollars in endorsements, the being anointed the next big thing. In spring 2023, she had surgery on both wrists. She's been climbing her way back since the start of last year, with no shortage of obstacles along the way. Some have been physical, including a recent back issue. She's also had to deal with an incident of 'fixated behavior,' from a man who tracked her to a tournament in Dubai, where he was ejected from the stands after causing Raducanu distress during a match against Karolina Muchová. He has since been banned from professional tennis events. 'A lot has happened in the last four years,' Raducanu said ahead of the tournament. On Wednesday evening against Vondroušová, Raducanu played like she was born for it, as though she'd been playing high-stakes matches on Centre Court and every other big stage all along. Her 6-3, 6-3 win over Vondroušová veered between businesslike and one-sided. She had one wobble midway through the first set, giving back a service break, but then she got another one of her own in the next game and served out the set. Raducanu came in with a plan to go on the offensive, to not get sucked into the battles of speeds and spins where Vondroušová thrives. Instead, she stood on the baseline or close to it, trying to figure where Vondroušová's balls were headed before she hit them. Then, knees bent, locked in, she hammered them back at the top of the bounce as often as she could, forcing Vondroušová to react to her rather than the other way around. Advertisement That's what Grand Slam champions do when their games are working. And Raducanu's was working as well as it has at any point in the past two years. Some players get weak in the knees when they walk onto Centre Court. Raducanu's seemed to get steadier, as though she is beginning to believe once again that this is where she is supposed to be. Raducanu pumped her fist and let out a yell as she watched Vondroušová float a ball deep to give her the service break in the third game of the second set. From there, Raducanu kept cutting loose, finishing Vondroušová off with a last flurry of aggression and power. Then it was time to wave like the hometown favorite she is. For one day at least, that other universe seemed a little closer to the real one, including the showdown waiting Friday with world No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka. 'There are some points I had no idea how I turned around,' she said on the court when it was over. 'I'm just so happy I get to play another match here.' On Centre Court, and all around the grounds of the All England Club, are players who can look across the net or the locker room and see the next version of themselves, as well as the big challenge that lies ahead. 'From a pretty young age, it just happens, our identity becomes very wrapped up in being a tennis player,' said Madison Keys, who has fought a 16-year battle against the pressures of promise. 'That's great, but when you have the tough kind of weeks, months, years on tour, that can really take a toll on how you think about yourself as a person.' Leylah Fernandez, the player Raducanu beat in the 2021 U.S. Open final, was having one of those weeks Wednesday. The No. 29 seed was wiping away tears a couple of hours after she lost to Laura Siegemund of Germany. At 37, Siegmund has dropped to No. 104 in the rankings. She can be crafty and tricky, but this looked like a friendly path to the third round, until it wasn't. Advertisement Siegemund won 6-2, 6-3. Fernandez said she felt like she hadn't even shown up on the court. 'Early success brings in a lot of great stuff,' she said after the defeat, but it also put blinders on her, preventing her from taking a macro view. Instead, she found herself focusing on the losses and the difficult moments. Emma Navarro, the world No. 10 who didn't experience a quick rise until after she had a few years of college behind her, said she spent her late teen years building what she called 'a hard shell.' It helps her deal with the fraught territory that can come with success. 'Thinking about my 17-year-old self, if I had to deal with the criticism and even attention, you know, positive or negative, it's really tough at that age,' Navarro said after her first-round win over two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová. 'I cringe a little when I see younger kids, dealing with that much attention.'
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Markéta Vondroušová wins Berlin Open for first WTA title since Wimbledon 2023
Markéta Vondroušová has landed her first WTA title since Wimbledon in 2023, taking home the Berlin Open with a three-set victory over Wang Xinyu. Both players held their own respective droughts they wished to wipe clean in the searing Berlin heat. Vondroušová, having been plagued with injury since her triumph two years ago at the All England Club, her left shoulder clad with tape, looked to put a definitive end to a 24-month period which threatened to curtail her career. Wang, meanwhile, was playing in her maiden WTA final. Advertisement The nerves were palpable throughout before Vondroušová streaked away with the deciding set, taking the match 7-6 (12-10), 4-6, 6-2. The pair traded holds in the opening set until the Chinese world No. 49 found an advantage for 4-3, overturning three game points to force a deuce and a break of her opponent's left-swinging serve. It looked to be a foothold Wang would retain as she served for the set. It was to be the first occasion in which Vondroušová benefitted from her counterpart seemingly seizing up in the decisive moments of the first set, claiming an important break from 30-0 behind. Suddenly, serving advantage evaporated in the scorching German sun. Wang again earned the right to serve for the set by breaking the Czech, but again fumbled, this time rather more emphatically. The 23-year-old exhibited multiple unforced errors from advantageous positions. First, a glorious backhand opportunity which sat just on top of the net with the court at her mercy. It got worse for Wang when, again with the entire court to aim at, she fired long, as the opening set went the distance. Advertisement In the end, Wang couldn't find the breakthrough in the match's decisive moments. She looked to be halfway towards a maiden WTA title when she gave herself four set-point opportunities in the tie-break. Vondroušová, though, won all four points to level the tiebreak. While Wang put up a creditable defence, saving two set points before going on to establish two of her own, she eventually crumbled with Vondroušová claiming a decisive mini-break for 10-12. The Chinese No. 1 subsequently headed off court, returning from the break to be immediately broken and on the back foot. But she immediately returned the favour, and the match finally seemed to find some stability with both sides holding their serve until Wang, 5-4 up, found her opportunity to restore parity. An almost routine break to 15 showcased a sort of confidence which had eluded her in the opener, pushing the match to a decider. While the tide of the proceedings would suggest Wang would be riding the wave of momentum, it was Vondroušová who came out firing in the final set. A dominant break to love put her in control, while the Czech soon gained a double-break advantage for 4-1. From there, Vondroušová's first title in two years seemed a foregone conclusion, and claiming the match with a hold to love showed the superiority with which she dispatched the decider. Vondroušová's comeback has taken its time to come to full fruition. But battling past Madison Keys, Ons Jabeur and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in her Berlin run suggests she may finally be back. Advertisement This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Marketa Vondrousova beats Aryna Sabalenka to reach first final since Wimbledon 2023
Markéta Vondroušová is into her first final since she won Wimbledon in 2023. The Czech, who has been hampered by shoulder problems since her stunning victory at SW19, beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-4 in the German Open semifinals Saturday. Advertisement Sabalenka, one of the favorites to lift the Wimbledon title this year, had saved four match points in a tiebreak to escape 2022 champion Elena Rybakina the previous day, one of them coming via a fortunate net cord. But Vondroušová was not so profligate. After both players saved break points in their opening service games, Vondroušová needed just one chance to break Sabalenka's serve at the next opportunity. She broke again to seal a clinical first set, and when the Belarusian — as she so often does — mounted a charge early in the second, Vondroušová broke her to love to restore parity immediately and snuff out the world No. 1's momentum. At 4-4 in the second set, Vondroušová made her move at the most critical time. A stunning forehand winner with her knee to the ground earned a Sabalenka double fault, as she tried to overpress and earn back the advantage. Sabalenka got to 30-30, but Vondroušová changed from a chipped, slow return and slammed a first serve to her opponent's ankles to cough up a short ball and win a break point. Sabalenka saved that one, but missed a routine forehand into the net under pressure at 40-40, echoing how Rybakina had tightened against her with their match on the line the previous day. And then Vondroušová somehow stayed in a point from the shadows deep behind the baseline, lobbing and chipping strikes back into play until she managed to jam Sabalenka on a volley that she dumped into the net. Serving for the match, Vondroušová found herself down 0-40. But in the face of Sabalenka's much-improved defense, she kept playing attacking tennis and earned errors to get back to deuce. Two points later, she was back where she had dreamed of being for so long. Vondroušová's four consecutive victories in Berlin match the longest win streak she has compiled in the two years since her Grand Slam triumph. Last grass season, her Wimbledon title defense ended with a first-round defeat to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain, then the world No. 83. Vondroušová was world No. 6. The first unseeded woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish one year; the second defending women's champion to lose in the first round in the Open Era the next. Advertisement Come last year's U.S. Open, she was undergoing surgery. At 25, Vondroušová thought her career was close to over. She couldn't swing a tennis racket after surgery on her shoulder. She would try to play. The pain would return. Another surgery wasn't an option. All the time spent on physical improvement wasn't translating into tennis. She missed six months of the 2024 season, returning in January 2025. 'It's not fun,' Vondroušová told at Roland Garros a few weeks ago. 'I had to be very patient.' In Paris, she won two Grand Slam matches for the first time in over a year, and now that tennis has moved from clay to grass, her command of the ball, skidding groundstrokes and confidence at the front of the court is back on full display. In a rematch of the 2023 Wimbledon final, she took out Ons Jabeur for the right to face Sabalenka, having beaten Madison Keys, another serious Wimbledon contender, in the opening round. Vondroušová will play either Liudmila Samsonova or Wang Xinyu in Sunday's final. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
