Marketa Vondrousova is a Czech professional player who plays with her left hand. She advanced to the French Open final in 2019 and claimed her maiden Grand Slam victory in 2023 at Wimbledon. Unfortunately, Wimbledon 2024 did not go so well.
Early Life and Background
Marketa was born in the town of Sokolov, in the Chezh Republic. She started playing tennis very early, at the age of four. Despite being a recreational player only, her dad was her first coach. She actually considered becoming a professional football player, but eventually, the spell of yellow balls and rackets took her breath away.
Junior Career
The young player started competing in her early teens. She started taking part in tennis tournaments at the age of thirteen with the ITF Junior Circuit. Later, in 2013, she won both singles and doubles divisions in the Grade 5 San Michel International Tournament in Malta. The same year, she won a doubles title in a Grade 2 tennis event in the Czech Republic. She also won the Nike Junior Tour in the USA and made it to the junior semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon.
Professional Career Beginnings
A great professional and a tough player, Marketa started a professional career in 2017. Let’s review some of the key matches on the way to Wimbledon.
First Professional Matches and Breakthroughs
Marketa’s first professional tournament took place in Switzerland in 2017. In 2019, she reached the final at the French Open in Paris but, unfortunately, was defeated by the winner, Ash Barty. And one more amazing achievement: a silver medal at the Tokyo 2021 Games. After these accomplishments, Marketa became a popular name in tennis betting on the most popular wagering platforms worldwide, including 1xBet site.
Initial Challenges and Learning Experiences
Starting from the early days of her tennis career, Vondrousova struggled a lot with hand injuries crucial for playing tennis. She learned how to take these mishaps with dignity and take some time to fully recover before coming back to the court. She admitted that it was vital to mentally bottle things up and not give way to despair.
Breakthrough Matches and Major Achievements
Marketa is a 2023 Wimbledon winner. That pretty much sums it all up. She is a determined and definitely talented player.
Performance in Grand Slam and ATP Tour Events
In addition to winning Wimbledon in 2023, Vondrousova surprised the whole tennis community by winning all the three sets all the way up to the Roland-Garros final in 2019. This accomplishment made her the first teen to compete in a Grand Slam final since the 2009 US Open and the first to advance to the French Open final since 2007.
Memorable Matches and Significant Victories
Of course, the most memorable tournament was Wimbledon 2023! At the beginning of the year’s most prestigious tournament, the Czech professional ranked 42nd on the WTA list and became the first unseeded female player to win the tournament. How did she manage it? Throughout the 14 days of Wimbledon games, Marketa seemed calm, collected, and, at times, almost indifferent. She managed to defeat seeded players — some of whom were ranked far ahead of her — five times out of seven matches she played in total. The victory over Ons Jabeur in the finals raced her up the rating list and landed in the top 10 for the first time in her career.
It’s funny, though, that the previous year Marketa visited Wimbledon but only as a tourist. Her left wrist was in a cast after the surgery, and she arrived to support a friend, a Swedish player Mirjam Bjorklund, who was taking part in qualifying for the first time ever.
Playing Style and Strengths
Marketa plays with her left hand and has a very strong shot. Her left-handedness turned out to be a great advantage for her as a player; her opponents are often taken aback by her strategic angles. She also boasts a great court coverage. Marketa admits that grass surface is a great challenge for her and she prefers to play on clay or hard surface.
Challenges and Comebacks
Wimbledon victories come with psychological liabilities. Vondrousova is a champion who appeared out of thin air. Such success is hard to process mentally. Marketa figured out her own means to deal with a sudden success. She claimed that she has to accept a certain level of expectation from other people but doesn’t burden herself with it. This mindset must have helped Marketa during her career path. Her hitting hand suffered an elbow injury in 2016 and two severe wrist injuries in 2019 and 2022, which required several months of leave. Those were difficult times for Vondrousova, both physically and mentally. Marketa was not sure whether she would be able to compete at the same level again. Luckily, she recovered fully and is back on track again.
Psychological and Physical Resilience
Marketa is a warrior. After all these injuries plus a wrist surgery that kept her out of action for months, she still managed to get a title at the Wimbledon Championship. Her personal stamina and resistance proved to be incredible.
Personal Life and Interests
Marketa has recently announced that she broke up with her husband of two years. They got married in July 2022 after a one-year engagement. Stepan Simek actually made headlines in the summer of 2023, when he missed his wife’s performance at Wimbledon to take care of their sphynx cat in Prague. He did arrive for the finals, though, after hiring a cat sitter. Anyway, the couple did not make it, and Simek moved out, taking the precious cat with him. All in all, 2024 has not treated Marketa too well so far. On top of family issues, she experienced some health problems she did not reveal in detail.
Insights Into Personality and Character
Marketa admits that she is an introvert. She is not into social media and does not really share off-court interests and hobbies. One is dead sure: she is a modest girl and fame did not change her personality. Definitely not a party animal, back home in Prague she leads a quiet life and gets her inspiration from quality times with friends and family. Marketa adores her sister and often brings her as part of a support group to various competitions.
Recent Performances and Current Status
Despite facing certain family and health issues, Marketa is an active player and is not planning to end her career. At least, we are not aware of that. However, she now needs some time to recover from another hand injury.
Recent Tournament Performances
🎾 At the French Open 2024, Vondrousova came as far as the quarterfinals but lost to the Polish player Iga Świątek.
🎾 At Wimbledon 2024, she lost in the first round to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. This year, her results were not as impressive as in 2023. It is a rare case that a current champion loses in the first round during the next year’s competition.
Current Rankings and Future Prospects
In September 2023, Marketa became №6 tennis player in the world. Her current rating on the WTA page is the following:
🏆 18 in the singles;
🏆 103 in the doubles.
She also gained wide recognition among her homies. In December 2023, she won the title “Sportsperson of the Year” during the Czech Republic’s Sportsperson of the Year ceremony. In 2024, Forbes listed her as one of the 30 talented young Czech citizens under 30.
Unfortunately, in July 2024, Marketa Vondrousova announced that she will not be able to take part in the Paris Olympics due to ongoing recovery from a hand injury.
Impact and Influence
Such a talented and bright tennis player as Vondrousova cannot be left unnoticed by the audience and sports brands.
Contributions to Tennis Beyond Playing
Marketa’s crafty style of play and appealing personality make her a perfect influencer inside and outside the tennis community. In 2023, she signed a multi-year contract with the Stokholm-based label of athletic wear, J. Lindeberg. Marketa is currently the official ambassador of the brand and takes part in creating the upcoming collections.
Legacy in the Tennis Community
Though Marketa is too young to leave any legacy just yet, she is a well-known person in the tennis community. She has a cool and reserved attitude to the game and managed to recover from three major injuries. Arm and hand injuries in tennis can become a serious problem for players. Getting one may seem like doing a swan dive out of a tall building; you can never know if you will be able to play or compete again. Marketa handled her health issues with utmost dignity.
Conclusion
Marketa Vondrousova is a remarkable young athlete loved by the global tennis community. She is a strong player and a pleasant opponent. Her victory at the Wimbledon Championship in 2023 made her a №6 tennis player among the world’s best. Her career is currently paused due to an injury, but we hope Marketa will come back to the court really soon!
