With the hopes of a country, a continent and a world of tennis lovers who felt she was long overdue urging her toward history, Ons Jabeur fell agonizingly short.
The pressure of playing for so much and so many may have caught up to her, again.
“Honestly, I felt a lot of pressure, feeling a lot of stress,” Jabeur said Saturday after losing the women’s singles final, 6-4, 6-4 to Marketa Vondrousova.
Tears flowed again on Centre Court, as Jabeur joined the likes of Andy Murray and Jana Novotna, two former Wimbledon finalists who each cried after losing finals they had hoped would be their breakthrough championships.
Jabeur, who lost last year’s Wimbledon final — and the final of the last U.S. Open — struggled against Vondrousova who won to become the first unseeded Wimbledon women’s champion.
Persons:
Jabeur, “, ” Jabeur, Andy Murray, Jana Novotna, —, Vondrousova
Organizations:
Wimbledon, Court
Locations:
Tunisia, Africa, U.S