Wimbledon 2022, Women's final preview: Jabeur's guile takes on Rybakina's big serve with maiden title on the line

When Ons Jabeur and Elena Rybakina take Centre Court at Wimbledon on Saturday, they would be making history. Jabeur, from Tunisia, and Rybakina, representing Kazakhstan, are first-time Grand Slam finalists from their respective countries. For Jabeur, it is an even bigger accomplishment considering she is also the first Arab woman and African woman to reach the final of a Major. And she doesn’t shy away from carrying her country’s flag wherever she goes.

Dubbed the ‘Minister of Happiness,’ after her semi-final win, she said, “I’m a proud Tunisian woman standing here today and I know in Tunisia they’re going crazy right now. I’m just trying to inspire as much as I can.”

And these are not just words. Last summer, she sold two of her racquets to raise $27,000 for hospitals buckling under an increase in COVID-19 cases. Coming into Wimbledon she declared that for every ace or drop shot she hit throughout the tournament, her Tunisian sponsor, IT firm Talan Tunisie, would pay out 100 euros towards renovating a high school.

“For me, it was my duty to help my country,” she said.

Making Tunisia proud 🇹🇳❤️@Ons_Jabeur | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/COxViOTRCk

— wta (@WTA) July 7, 2022

But in order to help people and promote Tunisia, she needs to win matches first – and the 27-year-old has been doing that with aplomb. Jabeur has the second-most match wins this year (behind Iga Swiatek) and 84 since the beginning of last year (more than any other player), and second-most wins on the grass in 2022 (behind Beatriz Haddad Maia). A Wimbledon title would be a testament to her steely determination and high ambitions.

Last year, after losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the quarters, she told her team, “I’m coming back for the title.” On the way, she took out five-time champion Venus Williams and current World No 1 Swiatek – two players with different styles. At the same time, she recognised that she was playing well on grass.

This year she started by winning the warm-up tournament in Berlin. At the All England Club, Jabeur breezed through the first four rounds before needing three sets to defeat Marie Bouzkova and then three more to see off BBQ friend Tatjana Maria.

Just six weeks ago, Jabeur suffered a dispirit first-round exit at the French Open. She had won a warm-up tournament and finished runner-up at another. To then losing early hurt her confidence.

“I have a great team behind me, even though sometimes — I’m not going to lie to you — I maybe thought I was never going to make it or never going to make a Grand Slam title or a Grand Slam final,” said Jabeur.

“I had to remind myself why did I start playing tennis, what kind of joy that tennis brings to me. As soon as I remind myself that, I get pumped, motivated to go.”

Rybakina brings Russian presence to SW19

Rybakina roars onto the biggest stage

The 23-year-old defeats Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 to reach her first Grand Slam final#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/u0jfhZlDEA

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2022

Russian and Belarussian players are banned from the All England Club this year following the invasion of Ukraine. But there will be a Russian presence in the women’s final after Rybakina switched allegiance to Kazakhstan in 2018.

“I’m really happy representing Kazakhstan. They believed in me. There is no more question about how I feel,” said the 23-year-old player.

“It’s already a long time my journey as a Kazakh player. I played Olympics, Fed Cup.”

When ranked 175 in the world, Rybakina was struggling physically but had the belief she could be better. “Kazakhstan came to me and they provided everything, practice conditions, coaches," she said and made the switch.

But this fortnight, she’s fed up with the questions, the Moscow-born Rybakina reiterated she trains in Slovakia and Dubai when not on the tour.

Rybakina’s deepest Grand Slam run had been quarter-finals of last year’s French Open. But the grass courts are the perfect platform for her big serve. She has fired 49 aces in the last two weeks and boasts the second-fastest serve in the women’s tournament at 122 miles (196 kilometres) per hour.

“Rybakina is an aggressive player,” Jabeur said on the final. “If you give her a little bit of time, she will take that away. I think she can play really good on grass because (she’s) aggressive and changing the rhythm.”

“She serves really well, so my main goal is to return as much balls as I can, to make her really work hard to win the point. I know she can hit really hard and hit a lot of winners.”

It’s going to be a tall task for Ons. In the last six matches, more than half of Rybakina’s first serves (51 per cent) haven’t come back into play.

In contrast, Jabeur is not the biggest hitter of the ball but she brings variety into her groundstrokes. She said she liked to play “with slice and changes of rhythm”.

“I don’t like routine much. That’s why I don’t do the same shot very often,” she added.

As an example, against Maria, Jabeur played a ball nearly three feet behind her with a flick half-volley and then, in anticipation of the next shot, spun 360 degrees.

In the end, it is going to be a battle of the big-serving player and of someone who returns well. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

Head-to-head

Jabeur has a 2-1 edge over Rybakina, with her most recent victory in Chicago last year.

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