Image Source: Tennis 365
Elena Rybakina won the women’s singles Wimbledon championship on Saturday, becoming the first Kazakh woman to win a grand slam singles championship. By overcoming a set deficit to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, Rybakina defeated world No. 3 Ons Jabeur in three sets.
In her first grand slam final, the 23-year-old struggled at first but eventually found her rhythm and strong serve to defeat Jabeur.
The youngest Wimbledon women’s finalist since Garbine Muguruza, who was 21 in 2015, was Elena Rybakina, who was born in Russia but has been representing Kazakhstan since 2018. But at the conclusion of a thrilling match, Rybakina raised the Venus Rosewater Dish in celebration of being the first Kazakhstani woman to win Wimbledon.
Rybakina’s initial feeling when she was interviewed on court afterwards was one of relief.
She admitted to Sue Barker on Center Court that she had been quite anxious leading up to, during, and after the match.
In the first few games of the championship, there was a shock. Jabeur broke the powerful Rybakina in the third game to grab the lead early in the match. Rybakina had only lost one set all day and had a huge serving stroke.
Rybakina had to save a few break points in her next service game to keep Jabeur from breaking her serve, but she was able to hold off the persistent Jabeur and win the first set. After holding serve for a few games, Jabeur created three set points with her tenacious return game and great dexterity, giving her the chance to win the first set, which she gratefully seized.
Despite being frazzled in the first set, Rybakina came out strong in the second. In her first serve game, she shocked everyone by breaking the lively Jabeur with her own accurate returns. After grabbing an early lead, Rybakina nearly lost it shortly after; she had to save several break points before eventually winning the set by two games.
In the next games, the two stars barely talked to each other as they played under the sunny, blue skies of London.
Both of them had to defend against break point chances from their opponents to stay in the game, even though they were using skills that had completely destroyed their opponents in previous rounds. But in the second set, Rybakina defeated Jabeur—who had been so reliable in the first—again to grab a decisive 4-1 advantage.
She had some trouble early on, but when the set was on the line, she used her usually deadly serve to win the set and send the match to a deciding set.
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The game resumed at a fever pitch following a brief pause for water and to calm the nerves.
After trading blows with the Tunisian, Elena Rybakina broke her once more to establish the early pace. And in a close final set, the Kazakhstani player kept becoming stronger and eventually won her first grand slam title with another forceful service game.
She not only became the first athlete from her nation to win a grand slam championship, but also the youngest Wimbledon champion since 2011.
With her accomplishment of becoming the first Arab or African player to win a grand slam title, Jabeur also hoped to leave her mark on history.
