Wimbledon 2023: Marketa Vondrousova upsets Jessica Pegula to book maiden Grand Slam semis berth

By Sabyasachi Chowdhury: World No.42 Marketa Vondrousova pulled off a massive heist after beating World No.4 Jessica Pegula in the Wimbledon 2023 women’s singles quarterfinal on Tuesday, July 11. The 24-year-old won the match 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in one hour and 55 minutes.

Wimbledon 2023 Quarter-Finals updates

It was a match of ups and downs where both Vondrousova and Pegula had their chances to dictate terms. After the first set that Vondrousova won, Pegula showed nerves of steel to take the second set. In the third set, Pegula was 4-1 up and was on the verge of winning the match.

But Vondrousova had other ideas as she won five games in a row to come up trumps. The player from the Czech Republic made 35 unforced errors, seven more than her opponent, but made up for the same with 24 smashing winners.

Vondrousova struggled somewhat with her second serves, winning only 32 percent of points (8 out of 25) from them and making two double faults. But she had a win percentage of 68 from her first serves compared to Pegula’s 54.

Vondrousova also neutralised Pegula by churning out seven aces, while the latter could not even churn out one.

In 2018 and 2021, Vondrousova made her way through to the fourth rounds of the US Open and Australian Open. But now, she is only two matches away from winning her maiden Grand Slam singles title.

She is now set to lock horns with the winner of the match between Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina and World No.1 Iga Swiatek.