Several tennis fans recently discussed Serena Williams’ inconsistent treatment of 2023 Wimbledon champions Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova.
At the 2023 Championships, both the men’s and women’s sides were crowned Wimbledon champions in Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova. Both winners were pitted against tough opponents in Novak Djokovic and Ons Jabeur respectively, and were widely regarded as underdogs in their respective summits.
After their memorable victories, the champions were inundated with wishes from numerous tennis fans as well as many notable figures. Several of their colleagues celebrated their victories on social media. 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams also took to social media to acknowledge Carlos Alcaraz’s phenomenal win over Novak Djokovic, who was aiming for his 24th Grand Slam title.
However, a few tennis fans noticed that Serena Williams didn’t want women’s champion Marketa Vondrousova with her victory. They promptly took to social media to express their displeasure at the inconsistency in the treatment of the two champions.
“The worst when women don’t support women,” one fan said of Serena Williams, who allegedly rejected Vondrousova.
However, a few other fans took issue with the decision. One fan suggested that Serena Williams’ behavior was justified as very few WTA players recognize her as their idol, while many others give credit to Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic.
“Remember, the same girls will say their inspiration is Nadal/Roger/Novak and won’t mention Serena Williams lol. Give her flowers, maybe she’ll return it?” said the fan.
Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans:
A look back at Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova’s 2023 Wimbledon final matches
Marketa Vondrousova had reached the final of a Grand Slam before, at the 2019 French Open, but she was unseeded at Wimbledon this year. The Tokyo Olympic silver medalist faced repeat finalist and former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur.
The Tunisian was in red-hot form after taking out four Grand Slam champions – Bianca Andreescu, Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka – en route to the title. It was her third Grand Slam final in a year, having previously finished runner-up at the 2022 US Open.
However, Jabeur fell short in the Wimbledon final, losing in straight sets to Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 6-4. The Czech thus created history by becoming the first unseeded woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish.
Reflecting on her campaign at the Wimbledon Champions Dinner, Vondrousova declared her newfound love for grass.
“If someone would have told me (I’ll win) this before the tournament, I would never have believed it. Grass wasn’t my favorite surface before, but I changed my mind a bit,” she said, laughing.
Carlos Alcaraz, meanwhile, was the top seed at Wimbledon. However, he was the less favored competitor in the final when he was up against Novak Djokovic.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion was the four-time defending champion and was in pursuit of his eighth title at the Slam. Moreover. Djokovic was on a 34-match winning streak at SW19 and was unbeaten on Center Court since 2014.
Despite the odds being stacked against him, Alcaraz cruised to victory over the world No.2 in five sets 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. In doing so, he became the third-youngest Wimbledon champion in the Open Era, behind Boris Becker and Bjørn Borg.
“For me it’s a dream come true to win Wimbledon. But it’s more special to beat a legend like Novak,” the two-time Grand Slam champion said at the dinner party.