The 21st century
Czech Republic · born Sokolov, 1999 · left-handed · the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon
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42
Her ranking when she won Wimbledon in 2023, unseeded
1-4
Her Wimbledon match record before the 2023 title run
7-0
Her 2023 Wimbledon run, with wins over five seeds
164
Her ranking when she won Berlin in 2025, the lowest of any champion there
6
Career-high world ranking, September 2023
Markéta Vondroušová was born in Sokolov, in the west of the Czech Republic, on 28 June 1999. Her father introduced her to tennis at four, and she trained at I. ČLTK Prague on Štvanice island before moving to Prague at 15. A left-hander known for her drop shot, she was junior world No. 1 and won her first WTA title at Biel in 2017, aged 17, in only her second tour event. She reached the French Open final in 2019 and won Olympic singles silver in Tokyo in 2021.
Wrist surgery kept her out from April to October 2022, and she came to Wimbledon in 2023 ranked 42nd. She beat five seeds and then Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 to become the first unseeded woman to win the title, and rose to a career-high No. 6 that September. Shoulder surgery and further shoulder trouble followed; in 2025, ranked 164th, she won the grass-court title in Berlin, then reached the US Open quarter-finals.
In June 2026 an independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency found that she had refused to give a sample during an out-of-competition test at her home on 3 December 2025, and suspended her for four years from 22 June 2026. She denies ever doping, and samples taken four days after the incident and in May 2026 were negative; the tribunal let her earlier results stand. She has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
| Wimbledon 2023 | Unseeded. Beat Peyton Stearns, Veronika Kudermetova, Donna Vekić, Marie Bouzková, Jessica Pegula (from 1-4 down in the third set) and Elina Svitolina, then Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 in the final under the closed roof, coming from behind in both sets. The first unseeded woman to reach the final since Billie Jean King in 1963 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 2024 | As sixth seed and defending champion, lost on Centre Court in the first round to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2, the first defending women's champion to go out in the first round since Steffi Graf in 1994 |
| Berlin 2025 | Ranked 164th, beat Madison Keys, Diana Shnaider, Ons Jabeur and the world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-4, then the qualifier Wang Xinyu 7-6, 4-6, 6-2, saving six set points in the first-set tiebreak. Her first title since Wimbledon 2023 |
| Wimbledon 2025 | Beat the 32nd seed McCartney Kessler, then lost in the second round to Emma Raducanu |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"On grass, I didn't play well before. I think it was the most impossible Grand Slam for me to win, so I didn't even think of it."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 2022
A year before her title she came to the All England Club unable to play, with a cast on her surgically repaired left wrist. She spent the visit sightseeing in London with her sister and cheering on a friend in the draw.
Source: Associated Press via TSNCentre Court, 15 July 2023
Her husband, Štěpán Šimek, had stayed at home looking after their cat until he came over for the final. She joked that his tears at match point were the most emotion he had shown in their eight years together. Their first wedding anniversary was the next day.
Source: Associated Press via TSNWimbledon 2023
Asked how she would celebrate, she said: "I think I'm going to have some beer maybe." She had made a bet with her coach that if she won a Grand Slam they would both get tattoos. As for her cat, Frankie: "I think she doesn't really care what's happening, but, yeah, I'm going to buy her something good."
Source: The New DailyRoyal Box, 2023
Billie Jean King, the last unseeded woman to reach the final, in 1963, watched from the front row of the Royal Box. Afterwards she hugged Vondroušová and told her: "First unseeded ever. I love it."
Source: Associated Press via theScoreCentre Court, 2023
Serving for the title at 40-0, she felt the size of the moment. "I couldn't breathe," she said. "I just was thinking to myself: 'Just be over.'" She finished with a volley, fell to the grass and lay on her back with her hands over her face.
Source: Associated Press via TSNFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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