Vondrousova Wins Final Five Games to Reach Wimbledon Semifinals by Beating Pegula

Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova speaks after beating US player Jessica Pegula during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match on the ninth day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 11, 2023. (AFP)
Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova speaks after beating US player Jessica Pegula during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match on the ninth day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 11, 2023. (AFP)
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Vondrousova Wins Final Five Games to Reach Wimbledon Semifinals by Beating Pegula

Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova speaks after beating US player Jessica Pegula during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match on the ninth day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 11, 2023. (AFP)
Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova speaks after beating US player Jessica Pegula during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match on the ninth day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 11, 2023. (AFP)

Marketa Vondrousova won five straight games in the final set to beat fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 and reach the semifinals at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Vondrousova, a left-handed Czech player who reached the French Open final in 2019, trailed 4-1 in the third set but didn't lose another game after that.

“I’m just trying to stay in every game. It can change pretty quickly,” Vondrousova said. “She got so much better in the second set. She was pushing me today.”

Pegula is now 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals. The 29-year-old American was playing at this stage at Wimbledon for the first time.

Vondrousova had won only four matches on grass heading into the tournament at the All England Club. But she has won five in a row on the surface over the last eight days.

“My best result here was second round. It’s amazing. I’m just loving grass now,” Vondrousova said.

The victory for Vondrousova is her fourth over a seeded player at this year's Wimbledon tournament. She beat No. 12 Veronika Kudermetova in the second round, No. 20 Donna Vekic in the third round and No. 32 Marie Bouzkova in the fourth round.

Pegula was leading 3-1 in the third set when play was suspended so that the roof over No. 1 Court could be closed with rain approaching. Pegula then held serve in the next game to lead 4-1 before Vondrousova took over.

Top-seeded Iga Swiatek was playing Elina Svitolina on Centre Court in another quarterfinal match. The four-time major champion is playing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time.

The winner of that match will face Vondrousova in the semifinals.

Later Tuesday in the men's quarterfinals, seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic will face Andrey Rublev on Centre Court and Jannik Sinner will play Roman Safiullin on No. 1 Court.



French Veteran Gael Monfils Becomes the Oldest Player to Win an ATP Tour Singles Title

 Gael Monfils of France holds up the trophy after defeating Zizou Bergs of Belgium to win the men's singles of the ASB Classic tennis tournament at Manuka Doctor Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (David Rowland/Photosport via AP)
Gael Monfils of France holds up the trophy after defeating Zizou Bergs of Belgium to win the men's singles of the ASB Classic tennis tournament at Manuka Doctor Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (David Rowland/Photosport via AP)
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French Veteran Gael Monfils Becomes the Oldest Player to Win an ATP Tour Singles Title

 Gael Monfils of France holds up the trophy after defeating Zizou Bergs of Belgium to win the men's singles of the ASB Classic tennis tournament at Manuka Doctor Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (David Rowland/Photosport via AP)
Gael Monfils of France holds up the trophy after defeating Zizou Bergs of Belgium to win the men's singles of the ASB Classic tennis tournament at Manuka Doctor Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (David Rowland/Photosport via AP)

French veteran Gael Monfils became the oldest player to win an ATP Tour title after beating Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 in Auckland on Saturday.

Monfils claimed his 13th tour title 20 years after his first and at the age of 38 years, 132 days. He took over from Roger Federer, who was 38 years, 74 days old when he won the final tour title of his career, the Swiss Indoor title at Basel in 2019.

Monfils currently is ranked 52 and is the oldest player in the history of the ATP Tour to be ranked in the top 100.

Pancho Gonzalez was 44 years, 7 months and 4 days old when he won a Kingston, Jamaica singles title in 1972, prior to the formation of the ATP Tour in 1990.

The Auckland final was delayed on Saturday by a medical emergency in the crowd but Monfils showed the same mixture of aggression and tenacious defense to claim his first title since the Stockholm Open in 2023.

Prior to the start of the Auckland tournament, Monfils spoke about how his love of tennis kept him going.

“I love tennis. I love what I’m doing so of course all the sacrifices you do, they are a little bit easier. When you love something, it’s easier to keep pushing,” he said.

“I’ve been enjoying myself since the first day I played tennis and (at) 60 years old I will still have this joy. Practice, it’s easy. It’s in the DNA. Stay in shape, it’s easy. It’s more the travel.”

After collecting the Auckland trophy, Monfils headed straight to the airport for a flight to Melbourne where he will face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round of the Australian Open.