Marketa Vondrousova made a triumphant trip into her second career Grand Slam final with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Elina Svitolina in the Wimbledon semifinals on Thursday.
In the all-unseeded affair, Czech lefty Vondrousova took 1 hour and 15 minutes to defeat Ukraine’s Svitolina, who was playing only her second Grand Slam event since her return from maternity leave in April.
Vondrousova had to fend off a second-set comeback by Svitolina to prevail and level their head-to-head at three wins apiece. Svitolina rebounded from 4-0 to 4-3 before Vondrousova regrouped to take the final two games of the match.
“Crazy,” Vondrousova said in her post-match press conference. “It was a very tough match. She was coming back. She was playing some good tennis. I’m just very happy that I stayed focused and I stayed in my head. I’m happy with the way I finished it.”
Vondrousova will face No.6 seed Ons Jabeur in Saturday’s final. Jabeur made her second straight Wimbledon final with a comeback win over No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the day’s second semifinal.
Vondrousova and Jabeur are tied 3-3 in their overall head-to-head, but Vondrousova has beaten Jabeur in both of their meetings this year, at the Australian Open and Indian Wells.
