Princess Kate moment with shattered Ons Jabeur takes Wimbledon by storm

Princess Kate has been praised by tennis fans around the world after a lovely post-match moment with a shattered Ons Jabeur, who was left inconsolable after defeat to Marketa Vondrousova in the Wimbledon ladies' final. The 42nd-ranked Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish and the lowest ranked women's winner in the history of the tournament after her 6-4 6-4 triumph.

Jabeur had to use a tissue to wipe away tears as she walked to her post-match news conference, having also lost to Elena Rybakina in last year's Wimbledon decider. It's now the third grand slam final Jabeur has lost as Africa's wait for a first female grand slam singles champion goes on.

'KICKED OFF COURT': Bizarre outfit furore rocks Wimbledon final

'AWFUL': Tennis world divided over Novak Djokovic crowd antics

'GUTTED': Wimbledon fan favourite in tears during sad post-match scenes

The Tunisian was left in tears in heartbreaking post-match scenes, before she was eventually consoled by the Princess of Wales, who was in attendance as the patron of The All England Club. The British royal could be seen offering a visibly emotional Jabeur words of encouragement, followed by a hug, in scenes that captured the hearts of viewers on social media.

Wimbledon final was 'most painful' loss of Ons Jabeur's career

Afterwards, Jabeur described her loss as "the most painful" of her career and was grateful for the consoling embrace she received from the Princess of Wales during the trophy presentation on Centre Court. “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,” Jabeur said.

“She encouraged me to be strong, to come back and win a Grand Slam, win a Wimbledon. Obviously she was very nice.”

The 6-4 6-4 loss against Vondrousova followed Jabeur's defeat to Rybakina in last year's final, with her other grand slam runner-up moment coming in last year's US Open final defeat to Iga Swiatek. "You cannot force things. It wasn't meant to be," said Jabeur, who was forced to leave Centre Court during the warm-up after breaking Wimbledon's dress code by wearing black.

The sixth seed felt she was too tense against Vondrousova, and the statistics seemed to back up that sentiment. Jabeur did not serve well, with only 48% of her first serves landing in, and she was broken a half-dozen times, while also making 31 unforced errors.

No matter how much she tried to relax by taking deep breaths, no matter how much she tried to calm down with little chats to herself, it didn't solve the problem. "It's painful," she said, "because you feel so close to achieving something that you want, and actually now go back to square one."

Marketa Vondrousova makes history at Wimbledon

Vondrousova - herself a former grand slam runner-up after losing the 2019 French Open final to Ash Barty - lifted her first grand slam title just a year since she visited Wimbledon as a tourist with her racquet wrist in plaster. It followed a second bout of surgery which she feared might threaten her career.

"When I was coming back, I didn't know what's going to happen, if I can play at that level again," the 24-year-old said. "On grass, I didn't play well before the injury. I think it was the most impossible grand slam for me to win, so I didn't even think of it. When we came, I was just like, 'Try to win a couple of matches.' Now this happened. It's crazy!"

She's the lowest-ranked women's winner in history and her victory was watched from the Royal Box by Billie Jean King, the last unseeded women's singles finalist 60 years earlier. Making the Czech's Wimbledon triumph even more remarkable was the fact she had only ever won four matches on grass prior to this tournament.

with agencies

Sign up to our newsletter and score the biggest sport stories of the week.