The women’s final takes place at Wimbledon on Saturday when Centre Court plays host to Marketa Vondrousova and Ons Jabeur as they battle it out for the third Grand Slam title of the year.
Both ladies have been to a Grand Slam final before but neither have won a major. Someone will break their duck here in what looks to be a fascinating final.
Marketa Vondrousova
I think it is fair to say that Marketa Vondrousova is a surprise finalist here. Not only is she unseeded in these Championships but when she arrived at SW19 ahead of the event she had only won one previous match at Wimbledon. This is not the Czech’s first deep run in a major though. She has been to the final of the French Open in the past so she will know the size of the occasion here.
Vondrousova went through the early part of the tournam largely unnoticed but it is hard not to have been impressed with her in the second week of the event. She saw off clean hitters in the form of Marie Bouzkova and Jessica Pegula and then she took advantage of Elina Svitolina underperforming in the semi-final to make it through to this stage. A repeat of her second week effort would have her very competitive.
Ons Jabeur
A lot of credit must go to Ons Jabeur for reaching the Wimbledon final for a second year in succession. She suffered heartache at this stage a year ago when much like is the case here she faced a lower ranked opponent and was the favourite to lift the trophy. She went down in three to Elena Rybakina in that final but the experiences of it should fuel her and benefit her ahead of this contest.
A year ago the claim levelled at the Tunisian was that she had a smooth route into the final. That certainly isn’t the case this time around. In the last 16 she beat former champion Petra Kvitova in ruthless fashion and then in the quarter final and semi-final she came from a set down to gain revenge on Rybakina and beat Aryna Sabalenka. There is no doubting that Jabeur is a worthy finalist this time around and she is entitled to be favourite for this contest.
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Head-to-Head
This will be the sixth meeting between these two women with Marketa Vondrousova holding a narrow 3-2 lead although one of her wins came when Ons Jabeur retired injured. The Czech will take comfort from the fact that she has won the last two meetings between the pair, both of which were in 2023. This will be their first meeting in a final and their second on grass with Jabeur winning at Eastbourne two years ago. They have met in a Grand Slam before with Vondrousova winning at the Australian Open earlier this year. History doesn’t really tell us too much about this final.
Betting
I think we are in for a really appealing final here between two women who have plenty of variety to their game. Add in the left hander against the right hander and we have a wonderful blend. The fact that both have reached a Geand Slam final should ensure that nerves aren’t an issue too. I think Jabeur is a worthy favourite for this final but she is a little short on the betting for my liking so I’ll head to the side market for a punt.
That comes in the form of the total games where we have a 22.5 line. If we ignore the previous match between the two where Jabeur retired, two of their four meetings have gone the distance and the other two both had exactly 22 games with a tiebreak set in each. That suggests we are in for a tight contest and what we’ve seen from them both this week would also suggest that. The last two Wimbledon finals have gone the distance while the five before it all contained a Williams sister whose aggressive nature doesn’t fit close matches. These two are evenly matched and I expect more than 22.5 games before the Wimbledon champion is crowned.
Tips
Back Over 22.5 gamed for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
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