The pain of defeat was obvious to everyone as Once Fill wept after the defeat. Photo: Getty Images/Charlotte Wilson
Ahn Grand Slam champions often use the old cliché when giving a winner's speech. “I’m sure [insert opponent’s name] will also win the title someday,” they say magnanimously, pointing at the runner-up with one hand and clutching their shiny trophy with the other.
Ons Jaber had heard similar, well-intentioned versions of the phrase three times already. Before, she tried to squeeze out a sullen smile. But when her final heartbreak happened on Saturday – losing her third major final to first unseeded Wimbledon Women's Champion Marketa Vondrousova – she could only break down and cry.
“You're such an inspiration to all of us, I hope you win one day,” Vondrousova echoed as she tightly gripped her Venus Rosewater plate. As much as the new Czech Golden Girl means, the reality is that Jaber will never have a better chance than she does at this Wimbledon. Her sobbing on Center Court suggests she knows it.
There are many great champions who needed to play multiple Grand Slam finals before winning one. Simona Halep lost three losses before winning the French Open in 2018. Andy Murray suffered four defeats before triumphing at the US Open in 2012. His coach Ivan Lendl also failed before finally winning his first major tournament at the 1984 French Open. Even 18-time world champion Chris Evert lost her first three finals. But this is not a guarantee.
While every man who has made it to three major finals in the Open era has eventually won one, women's statistics don't paint such an optimistic picture. As Matt Roberts of The Tennis Podcast pointed out, there are a number of women who hold the same helmet records as Jabeur but have never lifted a trophy in the end. Wendy Turnbull, Dinara Safina and Mary Jo Fernandez lost three major finals and never broke their shot. Elena Sukova had it even worse: she lost four matches, but never achieved her decisive moment.
which she wanted is Gill (right) with the runner-up plate, not the Venus Rosewater plate. Credit: AFP/Andrew Baker
Gill can only hope she doesn't suffer the same fate. She has been runner-up three times in her last five tournaments, including last year's Wimbledon and the US Open. After Jabeur left Center Court on Saturday in tears, four-time major tournament champion Kim Clijsters, who had lost her first four major tournament finals, waited in the locker room.
“We cried together,” Jabeur said, holding back tears during her press conference. “I really love Kim. She is a great source of inspiration for me. She kept telling me she lost four. Otherwise it would be hard. This is his positive moment.
“You can't force things. It shouldn't have happened. I hope I'll be like the others who couldn't make it a couple of times and that will come later.”
Gill is the female version of Norwegian Kasper Ruud, who has also lost three major finals in the past two years. season, and still chasing his first win. The difference is that he was always the underdog, while Jaber was the favorite here.
Raising her plate of second place, she pressed her fingers to her eyes, trying to stop the tears that flowed as the crowd cheered her louder. But it was the lowest she'd ever felt on a tennis court.
“I think it's the most painful loss of my career,” she managed to wheeze before weeping into her hands. Her husband Karim Kamun, sitting in a box with a player, also wiped his tears.
Jabeur's previous two defeats at this stage of the Major were inflicted on two members of the supposed new “big three” in women's tennis – the dominant world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in New York and the furious powerhouse Elena Rybakina on center court. This was supposed to be Jaber's year at Wimbledon. Wondrousova was an unseeded opponent who also lost a major final earlier but has a much smaller pedigree than the Tunisian.
The Princess of Wales consoles Jaber after losing in straight sets. Photo: Getty Images/Shi Tang
To reach the final, Jabeur defeated four former world champions in a row – Bianca Andreescu, Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina and Arina Sobolenko, showing one of the best tennis results in her life. Everything about this run screamed: I'm ready for my own trophy. The hard work may have already been done, her “rematch” tour, as she called it, is almost over.
But on Saturday, she completely spilled it, making 31 unforced errors – more than she did in any previous round. at Wimbledon – and missed the lead in both sets to lose. After that, her despair was that of a woman who was fed up with being near-champion.
A Wimbledon title would change Jabeur's life on a personal level, but would also be historic as she became the first African woman. win tennis. Instead, the Continent and Gill's wait continues. The question is, will this crowd favorite get a chance again.
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