Skip to content
Betting Commercial Content. 21+. Provided by Action Network, official betting partner of The Inquirer.
Link copied to clipboard

Bet on undergdog Marketa Vondrousova to keep Wimbledon final vs. Ons Jabeur close

Ons Jabeur has been the story of Wimbledon, but Marketa Vondrousova has been impressive. Who will win the women's final?

Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova (L) and Tunisia's Ons Jabeur reacting during a match of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. Vondrousova wil face Jabeur during their women's singles final match on July 15, 2023. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images)
Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova (L) and Tunisia's Ons Jabeur reacting during a match of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. Vondrousova wil face Jabeur during their women's singles final match on July 15, 2023. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images)Read moreSEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP via Getty Images
    by Kenny Ducey, Action Network
    Published 

Ons Jabeur has been the story of the tournament in the women’s draw at Wimbledon. The Turk, who was heavily featured in the first season of “Break Point” on Netflix, has run through a murderer’s row of players to get to a second straight Wimbledon final and enters Saturday’s match as a heavy favorite.

While Jabeur has earned the right to be called the favorite here, no one is talking about Marketa Vondrousova.

The tall lefty has a huge game and has proven to be one of the toughest outs on tour over the years. While her performances at the year’s biggest tournaments have been inconsistent, she’s a former Grand Slam finalist and has hardly had a bad loss this season.

Wimbledon final: Ons Jabeur vs. Marketa Vondrousova prediction

Vondrousova already owned impressive wins over Bianca Andreescu and Maria Sakkari prior to Wimbledon and has added to her resume with no-nonsense defeats of Donna Vekic, Jessica Pegula and Elina Svitolina in the past week. She’s now 8-1 on grass, and while she has a chance to finish the season 9-1 on the turf she’s also got an opportunity to establish ownership over her opponent.

Vondrousova has met Jabeur twice already this year, and in both instances she’s come away the winner. The 25-year-old took out Jabeur in the second round of the Australian Open and got her again in straight sets in Indian Wells. The serve has been a real issue for Jabeur and on a surface like grass it’s bound to be even tougher to handle this time around.

» READ MORE: Some Phillies futures odds have changed, others not so much as the second half gets underway

Jabeur may be the one stealing all the headlines heading into this match, but I have some concerns over her fitness as we hit the two-week mark here at The Championships. Jabeur has gone to war with Andreescu, Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Salabeka in the last four rounds. She’s gone the distance in three of them and has had to scratch and claw for every break against some power players.

It’s fair to question what Jabeur has left in the tank at this point, and I think Vondrousova should continue to exert dominance on serve against her opponent on Saturday. This has all the makings of a difficult match, and with that it’s hard to pass on the game spread here with the underdog. Nerves will certainly be at play for both women, and a long match is certainly in the cards.

I think there’s plenty of value in taking Vondrousova on the moneyline, but with the slightest bit of doubt about her ability to close here I’ll take the safer bet.

The Bet: Vondrousova +3.5 Games (-110)

» READ MORE: Full sports betting coverage from The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.