Wimbledon - Ribakina is the women's champion

Two newcomers took part in the final with an unexpected cast, as neither Onsz Dzabőr nor Jelena Ribakina have yet won a Grand Slam final, and so far they have only reached the top eight in the featured matches. The Tunisian player was the first African and Arab national to become GS champion, and for the first time in London an Arab and Kazakh tennis player appeared in the finals. Saturday's match was also historic from the point of view that in the "open era" since 1968 - i.e. since professionals were admitted - two players who had not previously experienced the atmosphere of a GS final were in the Wimbledon final for the first time.

The 27-year-old Dzabőr - who is second in the world ranking - lost only two sets during his march to the finals in London, and has lost only two of his last 24 matches. In the meantime, he also won the Berlin and Madrid tournament trophies and remained undefeated in his 11 matches on grass this year.

Ribakina, who is four years younger, was a finalist in Adelaide in January, but since then she has only reached the quarterfinals in Indian Wells. The Moscow-born tennis player has been playing in Kazakh colors since 2018, so the exclusion for Russian and Belarusian players from this year's Wimbledon Championship does not apply to him.

As for the head-to-head record of the two finalists, the North African led 2-1 with all three of their encounters taking place on hard courts.

In the final held on the centenary center court, Dzabőr took a 3:1 lead in 15 minutes, and the much-maligned Kazakh once again failed to serve in the opening set, so the Tunisian took a game advantage in 33 minutes. In the continuation, a big turn occurred, Ribakina gradually gained the upper hand, fought for break points one after another, went 5:1, and closed the set with her second ace.

In the last act, the Kazakh broke for the first time (2:0), and Dzabőr struggled more and more nervously, yelling and flapping angrily after each lost ball session. At 3:2, Ribakina reversed from nothing-forty, which had a completely demoralizing effect on her opponent, who immediately lost her serve, and from there there was no way back for her. The twisty finale lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes.

Ribakina, who won the third tournament of her career, will receive 2 million pounds (940 million forints) in addition to her first Grand Slam trophy.

(Source: Source: sportrajongo.hu, mti/Photo: pixabay, mti)