Sometimes not even a princess can cheer you up.
Defeated Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur was inconsolable after the “most painful loss” of her career – but that didn’t stop the Princess of Wales from attempting to put a smile on her face.
In touching scenes, Kate Middleton embraced the beaten Tunisian after her crushing 6-4 6-4 defeat against Marketa Vondrousova overnight Saturday (AEST).
Jabeur broke down in tears after losing back-to-back Wimbledon finals and missing her third opportunity to win a slam final.
Kate, the royal patron of the All England Tennis Club, watched the match from the stands before shaking hands with the players on court.
But she went a step further with Jabeur, offering her a sympathetic hand and attempting to cheer her up with a friendly comment.
“She didn’t know if she wants to give me a hug or not. I told her hugs are always welcome from me. That was a very nice moment and she’s always nice to me,” Jabeur said.
“She encouraged me to be strong, to come back and win a Grand Slam, win a Wimbledon. Obviously she was very nice.”
“I will try to speak because this is very, very tough. I’ll look ugly in the photos and that won’t help. This is the most painful loss of my career,” Jabeur told the centre court crowd.
“I want to say congratulate to Marketa and her team for this amazing tournament.
“You’re an amazing player. I know you have had a lot of injuries so I am very happy for you.
“It is going to be a tough day for me but I am not going to give up and I will come back stronger and win a Grand Slam one day.
“It has been an amazing tournament for me. I wish I had been able to continue until the end.
“To my team, we are going to make it one day, I promise you. Thank you to the fans for the energy. It has been a tough journey. I promise I will come back one day and win this tournament.”
Jabeur had no answer to the big-hitting Vondrousova despite the support of 15,000 partisan fans under the closed Centre Court roof.
Trailing 4-2 in the first set, Vondrousova seized the momentum as she reeled off four consecutive games to take the opener.
Jabeur moved 3-1 up in the second set with a pair of breaks, only to falter again as her unforced errors reached 31 by the final game.
In contrast to Jabeur’s troubles, Vondrousova remained ice-cool and sealed her unlikely triumph with a perfect volley before falling to the turf in delight.
Vondrousova admitted even she was stunned by her historic Wimbledon triumph as the injury-plagued Czech became the first unseeded woman to win the tournament in the Open era.
The 24-year-old clinched an unexpected maiden Grand Slam title at the second attempt after losing to Ash Barty in the 2019 French Open final.
“After everything I have been through, I had a cast last time, it’s amazing I can stand here and hold this trophy,” said Vondrousova, who was sidelined with a wrist injury in 2022.
“I don’t know how I’ve done it. Tennis is crazy.”
Vondrousova, who also seen chatting to Kate, joins Jana Novotna and Petra Kvitova as the only Czech women to win a Wimbledon title.
At 42 in the world, she was the second-lowest ranked player to reach the Wimbledon final — only Serena Williams in 2018 was lower at 181.
So unexpected was her run that she told her husband Stepan Simek to stay at home in Prague to look after their cat Frankie until the final, when a pet sitter was found to allow her partner to make the trip to Wimbledon.
“It’s amazing, tomorrow is our first wedding anniversary,” said Vondrousova, who had a dismal record on grass prior to this year’s Wimbledon.
“I think I’m going to have some beer. It’s been an exhausting few weeks.”
— with AFP
