Elena Rybakina beat Ons Jaber 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in Saturday’s Wimbledon final in London to become the first Kazakh player to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Rybakina is a 23-year-old who was born in Moscow and has represented Kazakhstan since 2018, when the country offered her funding to support her tennis career. The switch was the talk of Wimbledon as the All England Club banned all players representing Russia or Belarus from the tournament due to the war in Ukraine.
Rybakina is No. 23. Since the WTA computer rankings began in 1975, only one woman has been ranked lower than Rybakina and won Wimbledon – Venus Williams in 2007 at No. 31, even though she was No. 1 and had already won three of his five career Wimbledon trophies.
It was the first women’s title match since 1962 at Wimbledon between two players making their major final debut.
Rybakina used her big serve and powerful forehand to overcome Jabeur’s combination of spins and slices on Center Court. Rybakina ended No. 2 Jabeur’s 12-game winning streak, which came entirely on grass courts.
Rybakina immediately flashed her best shots: a big serve — she leads the 2022 Tour aces by a wide margin — and a flat forehand. There were flashes from both in the opening game, including a 119 mph serve winner at the opening point of the match.
WATCH | Elena Rybakina wins first Grand Slam title:
Elena Rybakina wins Wimbledon women’s singles title, 1st Grand Slam title
The 23-year-old defeated Ons Jabert 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the contest. With the victory, she became the first player representing Kazakhstan to win a Grand Slam singles championship.
It didn’t take long for Jabert, the 27-year-old Tunisian, to adapt.
By Rybakina’s second serve of the game, Jabert was reading the serve better and using her reserved variety to create less attractive baseline opportunities. A squash-style forehand pulled a forehand into the net to earn a break point, which Jabeur converted to take a 2-1 lead by unleashing a 120mph serve, then saw Rybakina serve a long backhand.
Jaber turned to his guest box, jumped up and shouted.
Rybakina’s mistakes are increasing. A volley into the net in a wide open field. Netting forehand after Jabeur barely got a short return. When another forehand went awry, Jabeur broke to love to take the first set and threw an uppercut as he walked to the sideline.
However, this would not be a quick victory. Rybakina stabilized and her serve became more effective. Jabeur began to have trouble using all his creativity.
As Jabeur’s forehand became increasingly problematic, Rybakina fired up her serve and groundstrokes in the second and third sets.
Rybakina, who defeated Serena Williams at the French Open last year, finally won her first break chance to start the second set and led 1-0 when Jabert missed a forehand. After saving four break points in her next two service games, Rybakina broke again and soon led 5-1.
Jaber leads the women’s tournament with 13 wins in three sets this season, but this time Rybakina came out much stronger in the decider. She broke once more to start the third and went up 3-1.
Jaber had to find a way to cut down on his mistakes; on the forehand side alone, she lost 15 points – 10 through unforced errors, five through unforced errors.
Strong service
Jabeur seemed to give himself an opportunity to really turn things around while trailing 3-2 in the third. She used a pair of points, which she won via a drop shot and a lob at love-40 on Rybakina’s serve.
But Rybakina erased those three break points and took the game, aided by several 119 mph serves. That hold made it 4-2 and Rybakina quickly broke through again. Now she was just a game away from the biggest win of her career – and she had to serve for it.
When a final serve resulted in a missed return from Jabeur’s racket, Rybakina seemed to sigh before breaking into a small smile.
It wasn’t long before she climbed over the front row wall to walk through the stands for celebratory hugs with her team.
Add Comment