2023 Wimbledon women's final tennis odds: Unseeded Marketa Vondrousova would make history with upset of No. 6 Ons Jabeur on Saturday
There will be a first-time women's Wimbledon champion this year, and unseeded Marketa Vondrousova would make Open Era history with an upset of No. 6 seed Ons Jabeur in Saturday's final from the grass courts of the All England Club. However, Jabeur opened as a -275 favorite at Caesars Sportsbook with Vondrousova at +200. Pre-tournament, Jabeur was +1000 to win and Vondrousova was +14000. This will be the second straight year and sixth time since 2000 that a woman will win her first career singles major at Wimbledon.
The 24-year-old Vondrousova, from the Czech Republic, entered the tournament ranked No. 42 in the world but will move far up the list regardless of what happens Saturday. She hasn't won a singles title on the WTA Tour this year and has just one in her career: a 2017 win at Biel/Bienne. Vondrousova, a lefty, may have previously been best known for reaching the women's singles final at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, earning the silver medal with a loss to Switzerland's Belinda Bencic.
Vondrousova advanced to the Wimbledon final with a 6-3, 6-3 win earlier today over fellow unseeded Elina Svitolina. Vondrousova won seven straight games at one point to reach the second Grand Slam final of her career after getting that far as a teenager at the 2019 French Open. She lost in straight sets to former world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty of Australia. Vondrousova is the first unseeded women's singles finalist at Wimbledon in the Open Era – which started in 1968. Billie Jean King was the last to do it, in 1963. She lost in straight sets to all-time women's Grand Slam title leader Margaret Court.
In addition, Vondrousova is the second-lowest ranked player to reach the women's singles final in Wimbledon since the WTA rankings were introduced in 1975. Only Serena Williams, ranked No. 181 in 2018, was lower. Williams lost in straight sets to Simona Halep.Â
Vondrousova would be the third Czech woman to win Wimbledon. Petra Kvitova did so twice (2011, 2014), and Jana Novotna (won in 1998.
"I didn't play for six months last year," said Vondrousova regarding multiple wrist surgeries that limited her to 13 matches last year. "I'm so grateful to be here playing like this again. I cannot believe it."
Before her win over Svitolina, Vondrousova beat four other seeded players to make the semifinal, so this is hardly a fluke: No.12 Veronika Kudermetova, No. 20 Donna Vekic, No. 32 Marie Bouzkova, and No. 4 Jessica Pegula of the USA. Prior to this tournament, Vondrousova was 4-11 all-time on grass. She is now only the sixth left-handed woman to reach the Wimbledon final.
Jabeur lost the first set of her semifinal match Thursday to No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka in a tiebreaker, but won the next two 6-4, 6-3 to reach her second straight Wimbledon final. Jabeur, from Tunisia, lost in three sets last year to Elena Rybakina. No player from Tunisia, male or female, has won a Grand Slam tournament. Jabeur also reached the 2022 U.S. Open final but lost in two sets to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Jabeur can become the first African, Muslim or Arab (female or male) to win a major singles final.
Vondrousova and Jabeur are tied 3-3 all-time, but Vondrousova has beaten Jabeur in both of their meetings this year – both on hard courts. They have never met at Wimbledon.Â
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