"Best hands in women's game": Wilander heaps praise on Vondrousova after reaching Wimbledon semi-finals

Mats Wilander praised Marketa Vondrousova ahead of her Wimbledon semifinal against Elina Svitolina.

Few would have predicted Vondrousova's impressive campaign at Wimbledon. She had not achieved notable results during this year and was placed in a draw that included Veronika Kudermetova, Caroline Garcia, Ludmila Samsonova, Qinwen Zheng, and the 4th seed Jessica Pegula.

However, Vondrousova's quality as a player is undisputed. She has previous experience in a Grand Slam final, having lost to Ashleigh Barty, who claimed her first Grand Slam title.

Former world No. 1 Mats Wilander commented on Vondrousova's Wimbledon journey, stating that it is "no surprise":

"She’s a great player, very crafty, great hands. She understands the game."

"She’s loving the grass and maybe has the best hands in the women’s game along with Ons Jabeur. It's no surprise to me that she's making another run in a major because she is a great player," Wilander said.

"She doesn't have the power of some of the best players in the world, not even close, but in finesse and tennis IQ and anticipation she is absolutely brilliant," he added.

According to the 7-time Grand Slam champion, Vondrousova's game suits the grass court perfectly, and her left-handedness gives her an advantage.

"I think on grass it helps that she’s left handed, I think she understands how a left handed should play on grass...It gives you a lot of advantages because the right handlers are not used to playing again lefties.

"If you know how to be a lefty on a grass court you can use a slice serve out wide to the backhand side more effectively that you can on other surfaces, and she seems to understand that and she needs to understand it because she doesn’t have a lot of power on the serve but she gets all that.

"It’s not why she’s doing great but I think it’s definitely a little bit of an advantage."

Vondrousova will face Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the semifinals, who has caused a surprise with her recent return to the WTA tour. Svitolina has had a dream run, defeating Venus Williams, Elise Mertens, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka, and the world No. 1 Iga Swiatek along the way.