Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova was ‘helped’ by surprise decision to shut roof on sunny day for final

CENTRE COURT — Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova says she was ‘really happy’ to see the roof closed for the final and Ons Jabeur admitted it had helped her opponent to be playing indoors.

Vondrousova won her maiden grand slam title, the lowest-ranked woman ever to triumph at Wimbledon, in straight sets as Jabeur produced an error-strewn performance on Centre Court.

Winds gusting up to 45 miles an hour and a Met Office yellow warning caused SW19 authorities to take the unusual decision to shut the roof for the match despite no rain in the air or issues with the light.

And Vondrousova, 24, said the news she received at 10am in the morning on Saturday was music to her ears.

“I think it’s [playing indoors] better for me,” said Vondrousova, who actually warmed up at 11am for the 2pm match on an outdoor court, in order to stick to her plan. Conversely, Jabeur hit on Centre under the closed roof.

Vondrousova added: “I was really happy they closed the roof because it’s very different than in the windy weather.

“The roof can help you with serve. You don’t have to focus on the wind so much. I feel like everything is the same on every side. I think you just have to focus on the game, not on the wind, not even on the sun.

“I think that’s a good thing. I’m used to playing indoors. We practice in Prague in winter indoors. I always play good indoors. I was like, ‘Yeah, maybe that’s going to help me’.”

All fortnight, Wimbledon organisers have been keen to defend the position that theirs is outdoor tournament and that play will take place without a roof wherever possible.

“They should be trying their hardest to play as much tennis outdoors as possible,” said Andy Murray last week after revealing he was told his late-night postponement against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round, the first three sets of which were played under the roof, would resume outdoors the next day.

But that did not stop the All England Club from shutting the roof on Saturday morning ahead of the women’s final, with the Met Office warning “some damage to trees or temporary structures such as marquees, tents and inflatables, could occur” due to an “unseasonably windy day”.

“We have been monitoring the weather forecast and in light of the yellow weather warning issued, we have taken the decision to close the roof on Centre Court and No 1 Court,” a statement to i said.

The players were not consulted before the decision – in the past, both players have had to agree to a change in conditions – and Jabeur said it had probably helped her opponent’s game style.

“Maybe it helped her today to play good and put more balls in. I don’t know if the roof was open would have been a different story maybe for both of us,” Jabeur said.

“But it is what it is. It happened. I’m very happy for her that she won her first grand slam. I know she’s a player that has been very injured a lot of times.

“I wish her all the best. Hopefully she can win more grand slams.”

Vondrousova’s only previous tour title came indoors, beating Anett Kontaveit in Switzerland back in 2017, and Martina Navratilova, who was born in Czechoslovakia but won her nine Wimbledon singles title representing the USA after defecting as an 18-year-old, said ahead of the match that indoor conditions could only favour the underdog.

“Clearly, Vondrousova likes the roof closed,” Navratilova told the BBC.

“It takes the wind out of the equation, and you can just hit your shots knowing the ball will land where it’s supposed to. Vondrousova should play the final hoping the roof will be closed.”

It was not just a hunch either. Vondrousova had been 4-1 down in the deciding set against No 4 seed Jessica Pegula when the rain started to fall and the quarter-final match was suspended. Play resumed 25 minutes later with the roof closed, and Vondrousova won the next five games unanswered to reach the semi-finals.

In the last four, the roof was closed again and she lost just six games to Elina Svitolina, who had beaten the world No 1 Iga Swiatek en route.