WTA Player of the Year Countdown, No. 4: Marketa Vondrousova

2023 By The Numbers

• 40-18: Overall win-loss record
• 14-3: Grand Slam win-loss record (AO 3R, RG 2R, W 🏆, USO QF)
• 1: Title (Wimbledon)
• 0: Runner-ups
• 3-1: Record against Ons Jabeur. The wins:
  • 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, Austrailan Open second round
  • 7-6, 6-4, Indian Wells third round
  • 6-4, 6-4, Wimbledon final
• 12: Voting points in WTA Player of the Year Countdown (See "The Voters' Thoughts" below for more.)

Tracy's Take

Marketa Vondrousova’s Wimbledon title run was a rare case of something that was meant to be.

A wrist injury kept her out of Wimbledon last year. Ranked 42^nd at The Championships this year, Vondrousova reached the quarterfinals and was down 3-1 in the third set against Jessica Pegula. Suddenly, with officials concerned about potential rain, a decision was made to close the roof. While waiting for that to happen, Vondrousova made a phone call—not to her coach, but to her husband. She returned to the court with an ultra-aggressive mindset and ended up winning five of the last six games for the victory.

Vondrousova’s next two matches were also played indoors—the same kind of conditions she’d grown up playing on as a kid. First, a win over crowd favorite Elina Svitolina to reach the final, against 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur. Not pleased with her mindset the only previous time she’d played a major singles final, Marketa made a conscious decision to enjoy herself. What joy Marketa brought to Centre Court that day.—Tracy Austin, Hall of Famer and former No. 1

The Voters' Thoughts

👉 Ten voters from the TENNIS.com editorial team each selected five players for our 2023 WTA Player of the Year vote. Each voters' first-place selection was worth 5 points, second-place vote 4 points, and so forth. Selected commentary from voters will be included in each 2023 WTA Player of the Year write-up.

Improving her year-end ranking by 92 spots on the back of becoming the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon gets the lefty shortlisted among the WTA players of the year.—Matt Fitzgerald

Stylish and surprising run to Wimbledon title puts her in the conversation.—Joel Drucker

You win Wimbledon out of nowhere, you get a nod. She was the biggest surprise of the year and took the biggest title in the sport.—Megan Fernandez

Vondrousova and Pegula both finished the year with 18 defeats; the American had 59 wins to the Czech’s 40. But both of their seasons come down to their lone collision, in the Wimbledon quarterfinals—where Vondrousova staged a late rally to stun Jess and ultimately propel her to the Venus Rosewater Dish.—Ed McGrogan

She kept her head on the game’s biggest stage while everyone else lost theirs.—Steve Tignor