With high winds in Wimbledon, Ons Jabeur and Marketa Vondrousova play final under the roof

Gusts were forecasted at 40-50 M.P.H., and while there's no rain, the roof cannot be shut beyond certain wind thresholds.

ByAssociated Press

Published Jul 15, 2023

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) —Ons Jabeur and Marketa Vondrousova have started play in the Wimbledon women’s final at Centre Court on Saturday.

The main stadium's retractable roof was shut at the beginning of the match.

The winner will become a first-time Grand Slam champion. They went into Saturday's title match with a combined record of 0-3 in major finals.

The No. 6-seeded Jabeur, a 28-year-old from Tunisia, was the runner-up at the All England Club and at the U.S. Open last season.

She is the only Arab woman or North African woman to participate in a Grand Slam singles final.

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The roof remains closed for the women's final because of the wind. To be honest, I'm not sure it's quite as bad as initially forecast. The worst of the wind was supposed to be around now. https://t.co/uKPfziFq0b
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) July 15, 2023

The 42nd-ranked Vondrousova, a 24-year-old from the Czech Republic, lost in the 2019 French Open final as a teenager.

She is the first unseeded finalist at Wimbledon since Billie Jean King made it that far in 1963.

The chair umpire Saturday is Louise Azémar Engzell.

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