Czech’s Marie Bouzkova Bows Out to Ons Jabeur in Wimbledon Quarterfinal

On Tuesday, the third-seeded Ons Jabeur faced Marie Bouzková in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. The Tunisian Jabeur has been hard to beat this season with a record of 34-9 and two tournament titles. She won the Madrid Open after reaching her first final of the year at the Charleston Open. 

Bouzkova is also enjoying a successful season, just like NASCAR is with its latest Cup Series at Pocono Raceway. In February, she reached the Abierto Zapopan finals in Guadalajara, Mexico before losing to Sloane Stephens. Her record is 18-9.

The Quarters

The No. 2 player in the world, Ons Jabeur, took on Marie Bouzková in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. It was Bouzková’s first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament.

To remain in the competition, Jabeur had to defeat Elise Mertens, the No. 1 player from Belgium, in the round of 16. After having multiple break points in the opening set, Ons Jabeur utilized a tiebreak to determine the winner. 

The lone remaining top-seeded player in Women’s Singles surprised the spectators with a tiebreak game in which she and her opponent served simultaneously.

In the second set, though, the stroke of game break kept occurring. In contrast, Ons Jabeur achieved her highest performance during this period. She was everywhere on the court and utilized a ferocious volley to grab points from her opponent. 

Jabeur has yet to lose a set at Wimbledon and is currently in the lead in the Women’s section.

Bouzková, a 23-year-old Czech, played exceptionally well against the French Open Doubles champion. Her opponent was Carolina Garcia, who defeated US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the second round. 

This is the first time that the 66th-ranked player in the world has reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. At 5-5 in the first set, Bouzková defeated Garcia, and then there was a game break (7-5).

Danielle Collins, the seventh-seeded and eventual Australian Open champion, defeated Marie Bouzková in only one set. In a fantastic match, she also defeated fellow American Alison Riske (28).

The Semis Set 

Tatjana Maria and Ons Jabeur will compete in the bottom half of the 2022 Wimbledon women’s draw. Both players had to overcome a one-set deficit on Tuesday to get to the semifinals.

Tuesday’s quarterfinal loss to No. 3 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6:3 1:6 1:6 eliminated Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzková from the Wimbledon women’s singles event. The 23-year-old Czech’s best Grand Slam run ended in the quarterfinals when her serve was broken six times over the next two sets.

In the opening set, Jabeur dropped only one game and could not break Bouzkova’s serve despite having two opportunities. In contrast, once she rediscovered her rhythm and range in the latter two sets, the Tunisian triumphed by a big margin.

Barbora Krejková and her partner Katerina Siniaková defeated Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez in the doubles quarterfinals, 1:6 7:6 6:2. On Friday, they will face Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Jeena Ostapenko of Latvia in the semifinals.

Jabeur broke Bouzkova’s service six times in the last two sets, despite the Czech only losing her serve once, in the third set, which was the only game she won. Jabeur won 30 matches, more than double Bouzkova’s 14, and she committed 27 unforced mistakes, ten more than her opponent.

The Road to Wimbledon

Maria’s opponent in the first semifinal, German Jule Niemeier, had a difficult time. Maria won after two hours and eighteen minutes of play, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Niemeier won the match’s initial break and maintained it throughout the entire set. Maria could not play the game on her own terms due to Niemeier’s aggressiveness and frequent dashes toward the goal. 

The backhand of the 34-year-old deteriorated severely as Niemeier continued to hit offensive strokes at him. This gave Niemeier the set victory and the match advantage.

During the second and third sets, Niemeier’s strategy grew predictable, despite Maria’s efforts to counter her opponent’s aggression by altering her game. Maria’s slice was effective, and Niemeier’s serve was immediately under pressure. 

Niemeier held break points for the first time in the match, but she dropped her serve twice, allowing Maria to square the match.

Niemeier was broken in the fifth game of the third set, giving him the lead; however, he was broken again in the eighth game. Niemeier attempted to stay in the match and force a tiebreaker in the 12th game, but she lost her serve terribly, giving Maria the victory.

Maria finished with 26 victories to Niemeier’s 39, with 37 fewer unintentional errors than Niemeier. Tatjana Maria and Ons Jabeur have never advanced this far at Wimbledon before.