Elena Rybakina has become the youngest women’s Wimbledon champion since 2011 after defeating a highly animated Ons Jabeur on Saturday afternoon.
The world No.23 prevailed 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, to become the first Kazakh player in history to win a Grand Slam title at 23. It is the first time in her career she has beaten a player currently ranked in the world’s top two and it is only the second time that she has beaten a top 10 player on the grass. She is also the fourth lowest-ranked player to ever play in the final at SW19 after the Williams sisters and Sabine Lisicki since the ranking system was introduced in 1975.
“I’m speechless. I was super nervous before the match and during the match. To be honest, I am glad it finished because I had never felt anything like that,” said the new champion.
“I want to congratulate Ons. Everything you have achieved is amazing and it is not only an inspiration for the young juniors but everybody. You have an amazing game and we don’t have somebody like this on the Tour. It’s a joy to play against you.”
In what was a roller-coaster encounter Rybakina had to contend with nerves and a blistering start from her opponent before weathering the storm en route to victory. Hitting a total of 29 winners against 33 unforced errors, as well as winning 60% of her first service points. Meanwhile, Jabeur at times was highly emotional as she felt her opportunity of winning a major slowly slip away.
In what was a clash between two Grand Slam final debutantes, second seed Jabeur took a stronghold just three games into the match by breaking the blistering Rybakina serve. The Kazakh came into the final with the fastest average first-serve speed (109 mph) in the women’s draw. However, the Tunisians’ use of the slice and hitting deep towards the baseline overwhelmed her rival who was visibly nervous. This was clear at the end of the opener when Jabeur closed it out with the help of four consecutive Rybakina unforced errors.
After suffering that blow, Rybakina hit back stronger against Jabeur at the start of the second frame. A forehand down the line set her up with a chance to break, which she did with the help of a shot from her rival crashing into the net. It was at this point when Jabeur began to show visible signs of frustration with glares toward her camp and throwing her racket in the air. To make matters worse for the world No.2, she later failed to convert three break-back points during a marathon five-deuce game before dropping serve once again in the following game. Meanwhile, a now much calmer Rybankina took the match into a decider with relative ease. Doing so with a 117 mph ace.
The 17th seed continued her momentum into the decider by working her way to a 2-0 lead. As for her rival, she reached boiling point during the early stages after screaming at her team in the crowd when she failed to win one of the points.
Battling until the end, Rybakina came back from a 0-40 deficit in the sixth game to maintain her lead as she closed in on the title. Serving for the biggest win of her career, she prevailed on her first championship point at the expense of yet another Jebeur unforced error, her 23rd of the match.
“I never expected to be in the second week of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon. To be a winner is just amazing,” said Rybakina.
“I wouldn’t be here without my team, so a big thanks to them.”
Rybakina’s triumph is ironic for officials at Wimbledon who have banned Russian and Belarussian players from participating in response to the war in Ukraine. She was born in Russia and spent 18 years living there before deciding to cut her ties with the Russian Tennis Federation after they were no longer willing to invest in her career. It was roughly four years ago when she started to represent Kazakhstan after negotiating a deal. Something other players have also done before.
As for runner-up Jabeur, she can still hold her head up high after becoming the first African woman in the Open Era to play in a major final.
“I Want to congratulate Elena and her team. You deserve this. Hopefully, it will be me next time,” she said.
“I love this tournament very much. I feel really sad but in tennis, there is only one winner. I am really happy that I am inspiring many generations from my country. I hope they are listening.”
Rybakina produced a total of 173 winners during her run to the Wimbledon title this year.
