Wimbledon 2023: Marketa Vondrousova on winning her first Grand Slam
- Published
Wimbledon 2023: Marketa Vondrousova "getting new tattoo" to celebrate
Wimbledon 2023 on the BBC |
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Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July |
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details here. |
Newly crowned Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova has so many tattoos she does not even know exactly how many she has.
Nevertheless, there is still plenty of space on her body to get another one - which will mark her being etched into tennis history.
Earlier this week the 24-year-old Czech said her coach Jan Hernych promised he would head to the tattoo parlour if she won one of the sport's four Grand Slam titles.
She is going to join him. Maybe even in London on Monday morning.
"I hope he's not going to back out," smiled Vondrousova, shortly after beating Tunisia's Ons Jabeur to win the singles title.
"I think I'll choose for him. Maybe we'll get the same one."
Vondrousova describes getting her body inked as "art", with tattoos dotted around her arms and legs.
On her arm she has one which reads 'No rain, no flowers', another which says 'It's OK', along with others including a heart, a tulip and the number 13.
Vondrousova and Hernych have not yet decided what the new tattoos will be - but she joked she will "make him" do it.
"We talked before the tournament and he said 'maybe if you win a Grand Slam, then I'll do it'. So this is happening," said Vondrousova, who is set to climb into the world's top 10.
Wimbledon 2023: Marketa Vondrousova makes history by beating Ons Jabeur in final - highlights
'I couldn't watch tennis'
For a while last year the markings on Vondrousova's left arm were not visible.
She came to the All England Club wearing a plaster cast, describing herself as a "tourist" as she cheered on her best friend Miriam Kolodziejova in qualifying.
Vondrousova needed to wear the cast after having the second wrist surgery of her career.
Both surgeries were to fix what she described as "floating bones", with the second operation necessary because she could not hit a forehand.
"The second one was really stressful - I couldn't watch tennis," she said.
"I was really sad. I didn't play for six months. I had a cast on for three months. I couldn't do much.
"I was playing good tennis beforehand and it happened - I thought 'Oh, my God, I'm not going to stay healthy and return to my previous level'.
"When you come back you never know what to expect."
This fortnight she has certainly defied expectations by becoming the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon, on a surface on which she had little pedigree.
Vondrousova had played in a Grand Slam final before, reaching the French Open showpiece as a teenager in 2019 but losing to Australia's Ashleigh Barty.
But she says the experience before playing Jabeur in London was completely different.
Remembering the build-up to the 2019 final, she said: "It was such a stress. I just wanted to do well. It was a big thing [in the Czech Republic]. Everybody was talking about it.
"Ash just crushed me. It was a very fast match and I didn't even enjoy it. I was very sad after.
"I told myself, if this happens again, you have to enjoy every moment. Even if I lose, I just have to enjoy.
"It's such a big achievement. I really enjoy this match today."
Vondrousova went up to her box after clinching victory, celebrating with her husband, parents, sister and friends
Making her husband cry
In eight years together, Vondrousova had seen her husband Stepan cry only once - on their wedding day.
But the tears flowed for both of them - and the rest of her family - as they celebrated her success.
Stepan, who works in IT after his tennis career was ended by injury aged 18, was at home in Prague for most of the fortnight - because he had to look after their sphynx cat Frankie.
He arrived in London on Friday, along with Vondrousova's sister, and Vondrousova said she was so shocked to see him cry that she ended up in tears too.
"When I came to the box he cried. I saw him after and he cried a lot," she smiled.
"That's the first emotion I saw him over the eight years. He cried on the wedding day also, but that was it for the eight years."
Watch the moment Vondrousova beats Jabeur to make history and become Wimbledon champion
Foundations for Czech success
Vondrousova is the latest in a long line of successful Czech women at Grand Slams.
The country has produced nine women's singles finalists in the past 10 years, as well as doubles champions and multiple wins in the Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup team event.
Nine-time Wimbledon singles champion Martina Navratilova, who was born in the Czech Republic but switched allegiance to the United States later in her career, quipped that the Czech water is "special".
On a more serious note, she said: "We have a great system. It's not the government federation; it's the clubs. Every small town has a club - many [with] two or four courts.
"You can play practically for free, so it's accessible."
Vondrousova is a fine example of this point.
Born in Prague, she started going to the CLTK club - run by the city - when she was eight after her father David put a racquet in her hand aged four.
She says he was inspired by watching some of the great Czech players, including Navratilova and 1998 Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna.
"We have such great players and a great history," Vondrousova said.
"Tennis was my dad's passion and nobody played tennis in our family. I was the first one.
"He is here also, so it is such a nice feeling to do it in front of him too."
Wimbledon 2023: News crew bump into Marketa Vondrousova's family