Elena Rybakina, Marketa Vondrousova can shut down the skeptics at Wimbledon—again

At first glance it would appear that, apart from being the two most recent Wimbledon champions, Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova don’t have a great deal in common.

Rybakina, the 25-year-old, 6-foot tall Russian-born Kazakh, is a right-hander who totes a thundering game—particularly on serve—and the WTA No. 4 ranking to go with it. Vondrousova, 24 and 5’6”, is a southpaw whose crafty game is more magical than menacing. While injury-plagued and less consistent than Rybakina, the latest in the long line of Czech Grand Slam singles champions is back up to No. 6.

What the women share, though, is a challenge to prove that there was nothing flukey about their triumphs on the game’s grandest stage. Rybakina hit the jackpot in 2022, a year when formidable Russian and Belarusian players, including No. 2-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, were barred from Wimbledon due to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Vondrousova earned her spurs with help from finalist Ons Jabeur. The Tunisian was so bound-up and anxious and in the final (for a second year in a row) that sympathy and pathos she generated became the match’s main storyline.

This year, the tournament is open to all, and seemingly there for the taking. It seems like just yesterday that you couldn’t throw a frisbee out on the Wimbledon practice courts without hitting a former champion—a Venus or Serena Williams, Garbine Muguruza, Ash Barty, Angelique Kerber or Petra Kvitova—prepping for another run. This year, it’s likely that the only other former champion in the draw will be Germany’s Kerber.

Rybakina is well-positioned at the mid-point of a puzzling year during which she battled insomnia, a virus and gastrointestinal issues that forced her to miss the top-tier 1000 events at Indian Wells and Rome and impacted her performance at Roland Garros. Yet at the end of the phase, she boasts a glittering 35-7 record, including three titles and deep runs in Doha, Miami and Madrid.

“I think in the end my legs were not there,” Rybakina said, after losing a tense three-setter to Jasmine Paolini in the Roland Garros quarters. She hastily added, “I'm really happy with the results [this year]. I played so many matches. Also, good wins against top players (she was 3-2 vs Top 10). Of course, it's a lot of ups and downs from my side, missing some events. I lost a little bit physiques [fitness], lost a bit of weight.”

“Horses for courses” is an adage that applies to tennis players as well as they move from one playing surface to another. It’s been demonstrated over-and-over that both surface, and specific tournaments, simply inspire some players, while leaving others frustrated by poor showings. For Rybakina, the grass couldn’t come sooner.

Rybakina didn’t miss a beat when a reporter in Paris asked what was her favorite “grand stage.”

“Wimbledon,” she replied. “It's the biggest achievement. I think any Grand Slam is amazing when the stadium is packed, but of course Wimbledon is something in my memories.”

Nothing surprising in that, given Rybakina’s record at SW19. She’s 14-2 there, with a win, a quarterfinal and a fourth-round finish. Her rangy athleticism and relatively flat game are well-suited for turf. She is so well-rounded that after she upset Iga Swiatek earlier this year in Stuttgart—the Pole’s only loss on clay this season—the world No. 1 said, “There is not one specific thing [Rybakina does especially well]. I just think, honestly, probably me, Aryna, and her are the best players on tour.”

Former Wimbledon finalist and ESPN analyst Alexandra Stevenson, who knows a thing or two about blazing serves, told me about Rybakina, “The thing that stands out is she can be hurt or sick, and then she comes back and she wins the tournament because of her serve and her big game. And there’s not a lot of women on the tour that have that big of a game anymore. That's just a fact.” (Rybakina has popped 260 aces to second-best Sabalenka’s 165 in just three more matches so far this year.)

After losing to Rybakina at Roland Garros this year, Elina Svitolina said of the winner’s serve, “She sometimes goes big, sometimes spins it, and she hits her spots very good. So it keeps you on your toes all the time.”

There are areas where Rybakina could improve. A better transition game and net play would be the next, natural extension of her aggressive mindset. She’s working on it.

“I think that (attacking the net) is the one thing,” she says. “If I improve, it’s going to be easier maybe to close some rallies.”

Rybakina could also level up her communication skills when it comes to the media, although there’s a perverse kind of charm in her opacity and disinterest in sharing information or her opinions. Stevenson thinks of her as the “unassuming champion,” vividly recalling Rybakina’s greatest performance.

“She made this huge splash at Wimbledon,” Stevenson tells of the 2022 tournament. “She had the most aces. The biggest serve. Jabeur was like falling apart, Kate (The Duchess of Cambridge) was there. And Rybakina wins, but there’s no celebration. She just walks up to the net to shake hands, like she just won Quebec City.”

Rybakina isn’t the only player who knows how to keep a poker face, or to remain poised under pressure. Vondrousova shares her rival’s disdain for drama. Her own composure was on full display in last year’s final, even though she had never before reached the third round at Wimbledon.

“Everybody was talking about how this was Jabeur’s moment, her shot at redemption, blah, blah, blah,” says Stevenson. “But Vondrousova took the occasion and ran with it. That showed great mental toughness.”

Vondrousova’s mind is tough as leather and just as flexible, despite a tendency to lose the plot. Jimmy Arias, the Director of Tennis at the IMG Academy, says, “Sometimes you watch her and it looks like she’s on a walkabout.” But Arias is a fan of Vondrousova’s “awkward” game. He added, “When she wins, she’s making you look bad rather than herself looking great.”

The secret sauce in the Czech star’s game is her southpaw cunning. She’s not as explosive and/or agile as other top players, but she has a knack for being in the right place at the right time and controlling the tempo of a match.

“She can absorb your pace, redirect your shots, bother you with that low slice lefty serve and drive you nuts,” says Stevenson.

To some, Vondrousova’s big win was a fluke set up by a kind draw and a weak opponent in the final. Rybakina won her title in a slightly condensed field. But as Stevenson said, you can only beat the players who come before you.

“Marketa can use her strategy, her brain, and her left hand to play you off the court,” says Stevenson. “Elena can blow you off the court. I don’t like anybody using the word ‘fluke’ when it comes to those two.”

Vondrousova and Rybakina will now get the opportunity to shut down the skeptics, assuming both have a clean bill of health. In Berlin last week, Vondrousova slipped while leading Anna Kalinskaya in their second-round match and was forced to stop two games later at 5-5 with right hip pain. Rybakina retired four games into her quarterfinal with Victoria Azarenka due to illness and opted not to play Eastbourne, citing "a change in schedule" for her withdrawal.