Vondrousova warms up for Wimbledon with Berlin title

Berlin: Marketa Vondrousova ended the run of Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu to land the Berlin WTA title on Sunday and ignite dreams of a second Wimbledon victory.

The Czech, who won Wimbledon in 2023, was pushed hard by Wang, appearing in her first final, but eventually emerged the 7-6 (12/10), 4-6, 6-2 winner.

This was Vondrousova’s third success on the WTA tour and it proved she is hitting form at the right moment after a torrid time with injury with Wimbledon starting on Monday week.

The 25-year-old, finalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has tumbled down the world rankings to 164 from sixth after months away from the court with a left shoulder injury for which she underwent surgery last year.

This was her first title match since she defeated Ons Jabeur in straight sets at Wimbledon two years ago.

Immediate reward for the win will come on Monday when she shoots up inside the top 100 to 73 in the latest WTA world order.