Princess of Wales consoles Ons Jabeur after Wimbledon final defeat to unseeded Marketa Vondrousova
15 July 2023, 18:38
The Princess of Wales urged Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur to 'come back and win' after her shock defeat to Markéta Vondroušová in the ladies' singles final.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Kate consoled the Tunisian world number six, 28, who was widely expected to defeat her unseeded opponent.
Czech's Vondroušová won a 6-4 6-4 victory despite the Centre Court crowd roundly backing Jabeur, who was also runner-up at last year's Wimbledon.
The Princess of Wales is reported to have told Jabeur as she fought back tears to "come back and win a Grand Slam, win a Wimbledon".
Asked about their exchange in the post-match press conference, Jabeur said the Princess told her: “Same thing after last year – to encourage me to be strong, to come back and win a Grand Slam, win a Wimbledon.
“Obviously she was very nice. She didn’t know if she wants to give me a hug or not.
"I told her hugs are always welcome from me.
"That was a very nice moment and she’s always nice to me.”
Kate watched proceedings alongside tennis legend Billie Jean King, who won a record 20 titles at Wimbledon, including six singles titles.
Last week Kate reminisced about her experience queueing as a child to watch matches at the world-famous tennis tournament.
She told members of the British Army, London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade and Metropolitan Police present at the event: “I loved it when I was younger. It was part of coming to see Wimbledon and the anticipation.”
