Ons Jabeur produced a superb comeback to beat Aryna Sabalenka and set up a Wimbledon women’s singles final against unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova.

It means there is guaranteed to be a new Wimbledon and Grand Slam champion after Saturday’s final.

Vondrousova ended Ukrainian Elina Svitolina’s run by winning 6-3 6-3.

She is the first unseeded player to reach the Wimbledon women’s singles final in the Open era.

Tunisia’s Jabeur, the sixth seed, was beaten in last year’s final by Elena Rybakina and was wildly supported by the Centre Court crowd throughout one of the matches of the tournament so far.

Vondrousova ends Svitolina’s stunning run

Recent history has provided a number of shock Grand Slam finalists in the women’s singles, but Vondrousova’s progress is probably the biggest Wimbledon surprise since Eugenie Bouchard reached the 2014 final.

Vondrousova, ranked 42nd in the world, admitted before the semi-final she “never thought” she could do well on grass.

Clay courts have long been considered the Czech’s best surface and she reached the French Open final as a 19-year-old in 2019, losing on the red dirt to Australia’s Ashleigh Barty.

Since that Roland Garros final she has not gone past the last 16 at a Grand Slam and has had two wrist surgeries, the latest of which kept her out until last October.

“I didn’t play for six months last year and you never know if you can be at that level again,” Vondrousova said.

“I’m so grateful to be here, be healthy and be playing tennis again.”

Vondrousova has grown in belief during the grass-court major, cleaning out four seeded opponents before facing former world number three Svitolina.

That confidence was illustrated as she started strongly. Vondrousova targeted Svitolina’s backhand and reaped the rewards with two breaks of serve in a run of three games against serve to lead 4-3.

Vondrousova’s loopier forehand caused problems for Svitolina, who hits a flatter ball, and greater consistency from the baseline enabled her to break again in the ninth game to seal the set.

The run of Svitolina has been one of the storylines of the fortnight.

Not only is she coming back from giving birth to daughter Skai in October, the Ukrainian is also dealing with the emotional aspect of the war back home, which she says she has used as added motivation to win matches.

As usual, Svitolina showed her determination and will to win even when she fell 4-0 down in the second set and the match looked to be quickly running away from her.

But she clawed back one break – and then the other – providing herself with hope of a remarkable comeback.

However, Vondrousova managed to recover from her edginess to break again and held her nerve in a tense service game to secure victory.

More to follow.