World No. 23 Elena Rybakina has been crowned Wimbledon champion after defeating Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Centre Court.
History would have been made at SW19 regardless of which finalist emerged triumphant. A win for Jabeur would have made her the sport's first Arab Grand Slam winner, but Moscow-born Rybakina's victory means she's the first Kazakhstani representative to lift one of the four majors.
And after recovering from a fairly one-sided opening set, the result rarely appeared to be outside the 23-year-old's grasp. Rybakina's six-foot frame and athleticism troubled the likes of Simona Halep and Ajla Tomljanovic en route to the final, but Jabeur made a statement of intent with an early break.
The Tunisian took on her trademark stance of digging deep at the baseline and making her opponent do the majority of the running. A strong serve also remained crucial part of her game, failing to concede past 30 points in any of her first-set service points.
Rybakina made adjustments between sets and more closely resembled her recent self during the second salvo, restoring some much-needed pride as she levelled the scoreline. That momentum carried through to the third as the Kazakh again broke an increasingly frustrated Jabeur at the first chance.
The Tunisian had delighted in drawing many of her opponents to the net but found that Rybakina—a keen doubles talent—was equal to the challenge and thrived at close range. Jabeur missed three break-point opportunities at 3-2 down in the decider and failed to get that close again, even suffering another break of serve herself in the following game.
Who do you think will win the 2022 U.S. Open? Let us know in the comments section.
Both players were making their Grand Slam final debuts having each previously ventured only as far as the quarter-finals in their previous bests. Jabeur exited the 2020 Australian Open to eventual champion Sofia Kenin, while Rybakina lost in the last eight of the 2021 French Open to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who succumbed to Barbora Krejcikova in the Roland Garros final.
Rybakina's rise has also been building after she reached the semi-finals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She lost out to Switzerland's Belina Bencic—who eventually claimed the gold medal—and then her bronze medal decider against Elina Svitolina after she led by a set.
Her first Grand Slam final appearance ended in much happier circumstances, albeit at the expense of another major-winner-in-waiting. Rybakina's achievement is all the more incredible considering this was only her second appearance in the main draw, hoping to add to her collection when the U.S. Open gets underway next month.
