There will be a new name on the Wimbledon women’s singles trophy and a new Grand Slam champion on Saturday when Ons Jabeur and Elena Rybakina meet at Central Court.
For both players, this is the first Slam final and both women can make history. Victory over Tunisia’s Jabeur would make her the first Arab and North African woman to win a Grand Slam title, while victory for Rybakina would make her the first player to represent Kazakhstan to taste it. Grand Slam glory.
3rd seed Jabeur didn’t beat a set in her first four matches but was pushed down to decisive position in the last two, while 17th seed Rybakina beat the two champions Grand Slam opponent in Bianca Andreescu and Simona Halep.
Jabeur led Rybakina 2-1 in their previous three matches, although one of her victories came when Rybakina retired due to injury. On the most important occasion of life, both sides are bound to be tense. The question is: Who will handle the occasion best?
Still thinking about this is hard to believe @Ons_Jabeur winner#Wimbledon | # CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/1aipfdTb72
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2022
Why Ons Jabeur will win
As a child, Jabeur was nicknamed Roger Federer for her incredible hand skills and ability to come up with pictures few have ever seen before.
The Tunisian has been playing tricks on her for two weeks, and although she’s all at home on clay, grass seems to give her the best chance of winning.
She dropped two sets but she never looked confused. Instead, she changed the tempo, played corners, sneaked into the net and confused her opponents. Although Rybakina will bring the heat of pure power, it seems Jabeur will have the skills to deal with it.
Although her second serve is relatively weak in speed, it is varied and she supports it extremely well. In fact, she earned a higher percentage of points on her second serve (63%) than any other woman in these two weeks.
More importantly, over the past few years she has learned to really accept the fact that she is playing for more than herself, leading the way for Arab and African tennis. As she said on the eve of Wimbledon: “I’m on a mission.”
Non-stop
Play of the Day belongs to Wimbledon finalist Elena Rybakina#Wimbledon | @HSBC_Sport pic.twitter.com/ETaPleDMzm
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2022
Why Elena Rybakina will win
To put it pure and simple, if Rybakina plays like she did against Simona Halep in the semi-final, she will stop for a bit.
The 23-year-old has raw strength, to the point that even someone of Halep’s caliber can’t cope. As Halep’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, told TennisMajors.com: “She played almost a perfect match.”
The danger, of course, is that she’ll struggle to follow that victory with another such performance, on the biggest stage of all.
But Rybakina, who also beat former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu earlier in the tournament, is an experienced player who could pose a threat to any opponent if the positive streak lasts long enough.
She is fourth in serve points won and third in serves won, and her total of 49 aces is 19 more than any other player, averaging over 8 per game. .
In theory, she has nothing to lose. She is the weaker one and is not expected to win, which should take some of the pressure off her shoulders. That makes her dangerous.
Just one more game to go before this will happen, @Ons_Jabeur #Wimbledon | # CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/zqgD3H9AhH
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2022
What will happen?
The question is worth 2 million dollars. It’s entirely possible that Rybakina will fire, serve rockets, and shoot Jabeur off the field. However, it is more likely that Jabeur finds a solution, absorbs the power, and finds a way to win. It can go the distance, but Jabeur should win.
