Ons Jabeur upset No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka to reach a second consecutive Wimbledon final, seeking her first major title.
Jabeur, the No. 6 seed from Tunisia, rallied past Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3. She was down a break at 4-2 in the second set before her comeback to reach a final with 42nd-ranked Czech Marketa Vondrousova.
Jabeur denied the Belarusian Sabalenka from taking the No. 1 ranking from Iga Swiatek of Poland.
She also joined Venus and Serena Williams as the only women to make back-to-back Wimbledon finals since 2000. Last year, Kazakh Elena Rybakina overtook Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 for the title.
Jabeur became the first African woman, and first Arab or North African man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era.
Last year, she reached the final without having to play a top-30 opponent. This year, she’s beaten the Nos. 2, 3 and 9 seeds and four consecutive major champions.
“I’m going for my revenge,” said Jabeur, who lost her two 2023 matches with Vondrousova, both on hard courts.
Earlier, Vondrousova beat Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the first all-unseeded Wimbledon women’s semifinal in the Open Era to become, at No. 42, the second-lowest-ranked Wimbledon women’s finalist ever.
Vondrousova, the 2019 French Open runner-up, swept Svitolina, the former world No. 3 back from October childbirth, 6-3, 6-3.
“I was nervous, actually, the whole match,” said Vondrousova, who slipped up in the second set with a 4-0 lead.
Vondrousova is the first unseeded Wimbledon women’s finalist since Billie Jean King in 1963, five years before the professional, Open Era began.
The only lower-ranked Wimbledon women’s finalist since rankings were introduced in 1975 was Serena Williams, who was No. 181 in 2018 coming back from childbirth.
The lowest-ranked Wimbledon women’s champion was No. 31 Venus Williams in 2007.
Vondrousova beat Svitolina in the Tokyo Olympic semifinals en route to a silver medal, then missed the 2022 French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open due to a wrist injury that required surgery.
“You never know if you can be at that level again,” she said. “I was here last year watching my best friend play qualies with a cast on.”
Svitolina, 28, entered Wimbledon ranked No. 76 after returning to the WTA Tour in April after a year off.
She won a lower-level event in May, then made the French Open quarterfinals before reaching her second Wimbledon semifinal.
