Just four months after returning to the Tour from maternity leave, Elina Svitolina has reached her second Wimbledon semi-final after knocking out top seed Iga Swiatek.
The wild card struggled at times with her serve but used the support of the animated crowd to guide her to a shock 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2, win over the Pole. It is the seventh time in her career that she has defeated a world No.1 player but it is only the third time she has beaten a top 10 player at a major tournament.
Incredibly four out of Svitolina’s five wins at SW19 this year have been over Grand Slam winners. Earlier in the tournament she knocked out Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin and Victoria Azarenka.
“I’m going to have a beer, probably!” she joked after her latest win.
“I don’t know what is happening right now in my head.’
“I’m really happy I got this chance to play here again, playing this great match in a great atmosphere – it was a really unbelievable feeling for me.”
Two days after coming through her marathon clash with Belinda Bencic, Swiatek found herself facing another stern test against former world No.3 Svitolina in what was their first meeting since Rome 2021. At the start of their latest match on Center Court, both players struggled to hold their serve with three out of the first five games being breaks of serve. Although crucially two of those breaks were in Swiatek’s favor as she rallied to a 5-3 lead.
Yet the crowd appeared to be largely on Svitolina’s side after they let out a huge roar when the Ukrainian fired a thunderous forehand winner down the line to hold for 4-5. This reception appeared to have rejuvenated her as she drew level once again in what was a rollercoaster opener.
Switek’s error count mounted which paved the way for Svitoliva to snatch a 7-5 lead. The Pole produced a total of 16 unforced eros during the first set which was twice the number of her opponent.
As the rain started to fall, proceedings came to a brief halt for the roof to be activated. Then when they resumed the cat-and-mouse chase continued with Swiatek working her way to 3-1 before getting pegged back. Eventually, her perseverance paid off in the tiebreak when she edged her way to a 6-5 lead before a Svitolina shot landed beyond the baseline and granted her the second set.
However, Swiatek’s comeback was short-lived thanks to some inspired and gutsy play from a fired-up Svitolina who race through the decider by winning five out of six games played. Serving for the match, she surged to 40-0 after hitting a clean backhand down the line before triumphing on her second match point after a Swiatek forehand crashed into the net.
“Iga is not only a great champion, she is an unbelievable person,” Svitolina said in reference to her rivals support for Ukraine since the Russian invasion. “It is not easy to play someone with whom you share a lot of good moments.”
Awaiting Svitolina in the semi-finals will be Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova who pulled off an upset of her own. The former French Open finalist defeated fourth seed Jessica Pegula 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
“I don’t know what happened. I was 1-4 down (in the third set). It’s an amazing feeling. Thank you guys for the support, it was amazing.” Said Vondrousova.
“My best result here was the second round. I just got better. I’m just loving grass now.” She later added.
Svitolina leads Vondrousova 3-2 in their head-to-head but they have not played against each other on the Tour since 2021.
Should Svitolina go on to clinch the Wimbledon title she would become only the second woman in history to win a major title as a wild card. The first to do so was Kim Clijsters in 2009 at the US Open.
