Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousovsa win maiden Wimbledon titles: 2023 Wimbledon Finals’ Roundup
Wimbledon 2023 culminated on a terrific note with world number one Carlos Alcaraz winning his maiden Wimbledon title against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. The 36-year old Serbian tennis star was the favorite to win his eighth title but things turned in favor of the Spaniard in the end.
On the other hand, Ons Jabeur who was the runner-up of the Wimbledon 2022, once again failed to win the title after getting defeated in straight sets in the final against Marketa Vondrousovsa. The Czech Republic tennis ace became the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon title in the Open Era.
Talking about the men’s doubles final, Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski defeated Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers to win the title. With this victory, Britain got their first men’s double Wimbledon champion in 11 years.
Let us take a look at the highlights of the Wimbledon finals:
Men’s Singles
Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic
This men’s single’s final has been one of the most exciting games in many years if we talk about the Championships. With Novak Djokovic being there in the final, there were huge expectations from the Serbian to win his eighth title this time but the Spaniard stunned the veteran to his maiden Wimbledon title.
With this victory, Alcaraz also became the only one alongside Andy Murray, who has defeated Djokovic in the final of the Wimbledon. He gave every reason why he is called the world number one at the moment. Overall, this was Alcaraz’s second grand slam with the first coming in the 2022 US Open.
The final started with a sheer dominance of Novak Djokovic where he won the first set with ease. The Serbian won the set 6-1 to make sure he will finish the game at the earliest. However, Alcaraz made a terrific comeback in the second set by winning the second set 7-6 in a tiebreaker. Djokovic was not giving away easy points whereas Alcaraz held his nerves throughout to grab victory in the second set.
In the third set, the 20-year old thrashed the Serb 6-1 to take a phenomenal lead in the final. The journey from being 3-1 up to going 4-1 up in the third set was one to savor as the fans witnessed a game that lasted more than half an hour as Alcaraz pocketed the game after 14 deuces courtesy of a few brilliant forehands took the game away from Djokovic.
After a long washroom break, Djokovic returned to the court and played with sheer determination to win the fourth set 6-3. The seven-time champion changed his starting position and was playing his shots from inside the baseline in the fourth set to unsettle the Spaniard who is still acclimatizing to playing on grass courts.
The fifth set was one to savor for the fans as Alcaraz ran away with a 3-1 lead forcing Djokovic to break his racket out of frustration. The new racket seemed to have given a new-found determination as the Serb fought back to take the score to 4-5 but Alcaraz brought his presence of mind to win the crucial game and to become the new king of the centre court. Alcaraz defeated Djokovic by 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 to lift his first-ever golden trophy.
Women’s Singles
Marketa Vondrousovsa vs Ons Jabeur
Another historical moment witnessed on the centre court in this year’s Wimbledon was Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousovsa becoming the first-ever unseeded women’s player to win the Wimbledon title in The Open Era.
Marketa Vondrousovsa posing with the title after a spectacular win at Wimbledon
The 24-year old defeated the finalist of the Wimbledon 2022 Ons Jabeur in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. This was the second straight defeat for Jabeur in the finals of the Championships. Last year, she lost the battle to Rybakina but this time it’s even more painful for her to lose in this way.
Ons Jabeur had the best chance this time as she started on a terrific note with a lead of 4-2 in the beginning, however some remarkable shots from the Czech player helped her win the next four games in a row. That’s where the confidence of Jabeur took a U-turn as she just couldn’t settle herself in the next set either.
The Tunisian tennis star was once again leading the second set with 3-1 but Vondrousovsa was playing in a different zone that day. She made a terrific comeback by levelling the scores 4-4 at one point and from thereon winning the title with ease. Jabeur even said that it was the most painful loss of her career so far.
Other key results
Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski vs Horacio Zeballos/Marcel Granollers
The men’s doubles final was yet another classic that ended in straight sets with Koolhof and Skupsi winning the match 6-4, 6-4. It was both players’ first major title in men’s doubles. What made this victory even more special is that Skupsi became the second British player in the Open Era to win the men’s doubles title.
Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupsi with the Wimbledon title
The pair of Zeballos and Granollers got a good start but some poor shots towards the end cost them the first set by 6-4. Additionally, Koolhof and Skupski commenced the second set on a positive note which helped them create history in the end.
Elise Mertens/Storm Sanders vs Barbora Strycova/Hsieh Su-wei
Another straight-set victory in this year’s Wimbledon final came in the women’s doubles match with the pair of Strycova and Su-wei winning the match against Mertens and Sanders 7-5, 6-4. This was their second Wimbledon title together and the duo ended the event in a remarkable way.
Barbora Strycova, who came out of retirement earlier this year, couldn’t ask for a better finish to her career now whereas Su-wei has now won the women’s doubles title the last three times she played at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.
Mate Pavic/Lyudmyla Kichenok vs Xu Yifan/Joran Vligen
It was a dream reunion for the duo as Pavic and Kichenok competed together after a gap of six years since their debut campaign together in Wimbledon in 2017. With this victory, Kichenok became the first-ever Ukrainian champion in Wimbledon history.
They started on a good note by winning the first set 6-4, however, lost the next set in a tie-breaker after giving their best. The duo didn’t lose confidence and made a great comeback to win the final set by 6-3, registering a phenomenal win at the Championships.