Marketa
Vondrousova is the
Wimbledon champion with the lowest ranking in the Open Era.
The Czech
player had an unexpected run on the London grass and won her first Grand Slam
title by defeating the sixth seed
Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4.
Marketa Vondrousova had
previously reached the final of the 2019 French Open but lost to Ashleigh
Barty.
At All
England Club, she entered as the world No. 42, which means she wasn't even
among the top 32 seeds and main favorites of the tournament. To lift the title,
Vondrousova defeated five seeded players, including Veronika Kudermetova
(12th), Donna Vekic (20th), Marie Bouzkova (32nd), Jessica Pegula (4th), and
Ons Jabeur (6th).
She also
faced Peyton Sterns in the first round and Elina Svitolina in the semifinals,
who received a wild card entry and defeated world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the
quarterfinals.
The match
with Svitolina was the first time that two unseeded players competed against
each other in a Wimbledon semifinal, and Vondrousova's journey to the final was
the second lowest-ranked path since
Serena Williams in 2018.
That year,
the 23-time Grand Slam champion entered the final against Angelique Kerber as
the world No. 186, although she had a protected ranking that still allowed her
to enter as the 25th seed. Kerber claimed her first Wimbledon title and third
Grand Slam in her career that day, avenging the final she lost to Williams in
2016.
Vondrousova
then became the player with the lowest ranking to win the Wimbledon trophy and
the only one who did not enter as a seed.
Other
players who were part of the rankings below Vondrousova include
Venus Williams
in 2017 (39th),
Elena Rybakina in 2022 (23rd), Venus again in 2005 (16th), and
a tie between
Maria Sharapova (2004), Marion Bartoli (2013), and Garbine
Muguruza (2017), all of whom won the title as world No. 15.