Beer and new tattoo for Wimbledon champion Vondrousova

LONDON: Marketa Vondrousova plans to celebrate with beer and a new tattoo after becoming one of the most unlikely Wimbledon champions by beating Ons Jabeur in the final on Saturday (Jul 15).

The Prague-based, 24-year-old Czech won 6-4 6-4 against the overwhelming crowd favourite to become the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon women's title.

After punching away a volley on her second match point the left-hander fell to the Centre Court grass. She wore an expression of disbelief after shaking hands with her opponent.

Asked on court how she would celebrate her victory, a smiling Vondrousova said: "I think I'm going to have some beer maybe. It was an exhausting two weeks, and I was getting myself together the last few days. I was so nervous before this game."

Vondrousova, whose husband Stepan Simek arrived from Prague in time for the final, having been on cat-sitting duty back home, has a collection of tattoos on her arms.

She was thinking of getting another one to celebrate a memorable fortnight in London and said her coach Jan Hernych would be getting inked too after a pre-match pledge.

"I don't know but I made a bet with my coach. He said if I win a Grand Slam he's going to get one also. So I think we're going to go tomorrow," she said.

Vondrousova became the first woman to reach two Grand Slam finals as a non seed, having lost the French Open final to Ash Barty in 2019 when she was 19.

Since then it has been an up-and-down ride and her only career title, prior to Wimbledon, was back in 2017.

She did win a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but with only one match win at Wimbledon in four previous visits, her expectations were hardly sky high a fortnight ago.

This time last year she was in London merely as a