No wave. Not much of a look around. Her play early on also betrayed some concerns, which is understandable considering it was her Grand Slam title match debut. Almost two hours of long swinging and plenty of sprinting later, she had clinched the championship at the All England Club with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ons Jabeur – her first singles trophy at a major tournament. adopted country of Kazakhstan. Even then, Rybakina’s reaction was as quiet as possible, a small sigh, a hint of a smile. “I’m glad it’s over, to be honest,” said the 23-year-old, “because I’ve never really felt anything like this.” She was born in Moscow and has represented Kazakhstan since 2018, when the country offered her funding to support her tennis career. The change was the subject of debate during Wimbledon because it banned all players representing Russia or Belarus from entering the tournament due to the war in Ukraine. Since the WTA computer rankings began in 1975, only one woman ranked lower than No. 23 Rybakina has won Wimbledon — Venus Williams in 2007 at No. 31, though she was No. 1 and had already won three of the five Wimbledon career trophies. Rybakina used her long serve and powerful forehand to overcome the varied style of No. 2 Jabeur, with a combination of spins and slices, to halt the 27-year-old Tunisian’s 12-game winning streak, which came in full swing. grass courts. “You have an amazing game and I don’t think we have anyone like that on tour,” Rybakina told Jabeur during the post-match trophy ceremony, then added this one-liner: “I ran so hard today, so I didn’t “I think I need to do more fitness, honestly.” Jabeur was also in her first Grand Slam final. “She deserved this. I hope the next time will be mine,” said Jabeur, whose exuberance on the court and persona off it have earned her the famous “Minister of Happiness”. “Elena stole my title,” Jabber joked, “but that’s okay.” By the third game of the match, Jabeur was reading Rybakina’s serve and creating less attractive ground-force opportunities. A squash-style forehand hit a forehand into the net to earn a break point, which Jabeur converted for a 2-1 lead by putting a 120mph serve into play and then watching Rybakina sail a backhand. Jabber turned to her guest box, jumped up and yelled. Rybakina’s errors increased. A volley into the net with the whole court wide open. A netted forehand after Jabeur just hit a short return. When another forehand went awry, Jabeur broke to love to take the opening set, yelling “Yalla!” — Arabic for “Let’s go!” — and threw an uppercut while walking to the side. Jabeur was trying to become the first Arab or African woman to win a Slam singles title in the professional era, which dates back to 1968. “I really like this tournament. I feel really sad. But it’s tennis. There is only one winner,” Jabeur said. “I am really happy to try to inspire many generations from my country. I hope they are listening.” Rybakina, who beat Serena Williams at last year’s French Open, finally won her first break chance to start the second set and was up 1-0 when Jabeur missed a forehand. After saving four break points in her next two service games, Rybakina broke again and soon led 5-1. Jabeur leads the women’s tour with 13 wins in three sets this season, but Rybakina came out much stronger in the decider. He broke once again to start the third and went up 3-1. Jabeur had to find a way to cut down on her mistakes and came close to turning things around while trailing 3-2 in the third. She brought up a pair of points won via drop shot and lob at love-40 on Rybakina’s serve. But Rybakina erased that trio of break points and took the game, aided by a couple of 119 mph serves. The hold there made it 4-2, and Rybakina quickly broke again. She was now just one game away from the biggest win of her career – and she had to serve it up. That game started with a 117 mph ace off Rybakina’s red racket. It ended with Jabeur missing a comeback. Any worry, any worry, that Rybakina felt could disappear. Soon she was past the green wall next to the front row seats to go through the stands for hugs with her coach, her sister and others. She was now, and forever will be, Wimbledon champion.
