"Greatest female tennis country ever" - Former Serena Williams coach hails Czech Republic's dominance, from Martina Navratilova to Marketa Vondrousova
Marketa Vondrousova's triumph at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships has elicited words of praise for Czech Republic from Rennae Stubbs, former coach of Serena Williams. Stubbs hailed the east European nation for producing some of the greatest women's tennis players of all time.
Vondrousova defeated World No. 6 Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday to lift her maiden Grand Slam title. The Czech player overcame five seeded players, including No. 4 Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinal, to triumph at SW19. She had previously made the final of the 2019 French Open, losing to Ashleigh Barty.
The 24-year-old is the latest women's player from the Czech Republic to etch her name in tennis history, as pointed out by Rennae Stubbs. The American player-turned-coach took to Twitter to list some of the greatest players to come out of the Czech Republic.
These include the likes of Martina Navratilova, Hana Mandlikova, Helena Sukova, Jana Novotna, Petra Kvitova, Karolina Muchova, Barbora Krejčíková, Karolina Muchova, Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Strycova.
"The Czech Republic is the greatest female tennis country we’ve ever seen! Think about the population & size & the amount of great players it’s produced! Martina, Hana, Helena, Jana, Petra, Karolina, Barbora, Muchova, Marketa, Strycova! I could go on but u get my point!" Stubbs tweeted.
Martina Navratilova ranks fifth on the list of women with the most Grand Slam titles, having won 18, tied with Chris Evert. Meanwhile, Hana Mandlikova has four Major titles, and Petra Kvitova has two. Jana Novotna, Barbora Krejcikova, and Marketa Vondrousova have one Grand Slam title each to their name.
Vondrousova might not be the only Czech player to lift a trophy at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Barbora Strycova, the 2019 Wimbledon doubles champion, will play in the women's doubles final this year as well.
Strycova and her partner Hsieh Su-Wei will face the No. 3 seeds Elise Mertens and Storm Hunter on Sunday, July 16.
Marketa Vondrousova becomes the first unseeded player to win Wimbledon in the Open Era
With her victory at SW19, Marketa Vondrousova has become the first unseeded women's player ever to lift the Wimbledon trophy. Ranked World No. 42 before the start of the tournament, Vondrousova is set to enter the top 10 for the first time in her career; she will be ranked World No. 10 on Monday.
The Czech player broke several other records during her dream run in London. She was the second lowest-ranked player ever to reach Wimbledon final after Serena Williams, who was ranked 181st when she played in the 2018 final. Williams lost to Angelique Kerber in that final, 6-3, 6-3.
Vondrousova also broke Venus Williams' record of being the lowest-ranked women's player to lift the Wimbledon title. Venus Williams, who has five Wimbledon titles in her trophy cabinet, was ranked World No. 31 when she triumphed in 2007, defeating Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-1.