Championship weekend is upon us at Wimbledon.
Ons Jabeur and Marketa Vondrousova are the two left standing in the women’s draw, while Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner remain as the final four men standing in London.
Keep reading for our top storylines, Tennis Paradise-themed of course, from an action-packed two weeks of tennis across the pond.
2024 BNP PARIBAS OPEN TICKETSOne word to describe Ons Jabeur’s performance at Wimbledon: resilient. In a dramatic three-set semifinal match against No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, the Tunisian star battled from the brink to reach her second consecutive Wimbledon final. Having finished runner-up at last year’s Wimbledon and U.S. Open, Jabeur will have to shake off any jitters from past Grand Slam defeats to capture that elusive maiden major title.
She’ll be up against Marketa Vondrousova on the other side of the net, a player that has quietly put together one of the most impressive tournament runs in the WTA this season. The Czech lefty is the first unseeded women to reach the Wimbledon final in the Open Era. This will be Vondrousova’s second Grand Slam final appearance (Roland Garros, 2019), so it’s hard to consider her a complete underdog considering the experience she has on the big stage.
Vondrousova has already gotten the better of Jabeur twice this year, including once at Indian Wells. No matter which player ends up lifting the trophy, this matchup guarantees a new women’s winner at Wimbledon for the sixth year in a row.
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic vs. Jannik Sinner. Storylines abound in these two men’s semifinal matchups that will feature four players who have been at their very best on the ATP Tour this year.
Alcaraz and Medvedev will meet for just the third time in their careers, the most recent being the 2023 BNP Paribas Open final this past March. It was the young Spaniard who triumphed in Tennis Paradise and claimed his first Indian Wells title in that last matchup, which will surely leave Medvedev hungry for revenge when they take to Centre Court in London for a spot in the Wimbledon final.
In the bottom half of the draw, the 21-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner will try to do what no player has done in over a year — defeat Novak Djokovic at a Grand Slam tournament. Djokovic, a 5x Indian Wells champion, seems to be winning faster than the record books can keep up with. Having already claimed the first two major titles of the year, the Serbian looks poised to lift the trophy again in London for what would be his fifth straight Wimbledon title. The job is far from done though for Djokovic who was nearly knocked out in London by Sinner last year.
As a former Top 5 player, Elina Svitolina is no stranger to the spotlight in women’s tennis, but even her biggest fans could not have expected the performance she put together over two weeks in London.
Less than a year removed from the birth of her first child, Svitolina pulled off the unthinkable, reaching the Wimbledon semifinal as a wild card. Svitolina’s path through the draw saw her takedown four former Grand Slam champions, including No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals. Although she couldn’t quite muster the strength to take down Marketa Vondrousova in the semifinal, Svitolina proved that she is once again a force to be reckoned with in all tournaments moving forward.
It would feel wrong to recap the 2023 Wimbledon Championships without mentioning the heartwarming story of American Christopher Eubanks. Playing in his first-ever Wimbledon main draw, the former Georgia Tech star stunned crowds en route to the quarterfinals, producing some of the most electrifying moments of the tournament. Having battled on the ATP Challenger Tour for multiple years, Eubanks finally found his breakthrough moment in London, and in doing so enthralled fans around the world with his mesmerizing play.
In addition to rising over 40 spots in the rankings, Eubanks broke the record for most winners hit in one Wimbledon tournament with 317 total. He now looks to have secured his name as a mainstay on the ATP Tour for some time now with his remarkable run in London.
