Tennis connoisseurs can consider that Elina Svitolina is fine and is back to performing with the slick performance she showed a few seasons ago.
The former world number 3 tennis player was surprisingly able to beat world number 1 Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 to reach the third Grand Slam semifinal of her career at Wimbledon in the 2023 season.
The victory that was fought for 2 hours and 50 minutes against Swiatek was the seventh victory for the Ukrainian national tennis player over the world number 1 player as well as the first victory since she defeated the world number 1 player at the time, Simona Halep in Rome in the 2018 season. This victory was also the tennis player’s fourth victory over Grand Slam champion at Wimbledon this season after beating Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin and Victoria Azarenka in previous rounds.
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The Ukrainian tennis player is the third player in the Open Era to beat four Grand Slam champions at one Grand Slam after Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open and Justine Henin at the 2005 French Open. Both tennis legends eventually won the Grand Slam.
Five straight wins have put the Ukrainian national in the semifinals of Wimbledon for the second time in her career and the first time since the 2019 season.
“This means a lot to me. I really didn’t expect that I would be in the semifinals,” said Svitolina. “I want to keep going in this direction. Got a big challenge in front of me. But I feel really proud of the way I played against tough players, Grand Slam champions, players who know how to win, how to play in moments of pressure.”
“Really happy with my performance and with the way I handled the situation so far.”
The victory that was fought for 2 hours and 50 minutes against Swiatek was the seventh victory for the Ukrainian national tennis player over the world number 1 player as well as the first victory since she defeated the world number 1 player at the time, Simona Halep in Rome in the 2018 season. This victory was also the tennis player’s fourth victory over Grand Slam champion at Wimbledon this season after beating Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin and Victoria Azarenka in previous rounds.
The Ukrainian tennis player is the third player in the Open Era to beat four Grand Slam champions at one Grand Slam after Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open and Justine Henin at the 2005 French Open. Both tennis legends eventually won the Grand Slam.
Five straight wins have put the Ukrainian national in the semifinals of Wimbledon for the second time in her career and the first time since the 2019 season.
“This means a lot to me. I really didn’t expect that I would be in the semifinals,” said Svitolina. “I want to keep going in this direction. Got a big challenge in front of me. But I feel really proud of the way I played against tough players, Grand Slam champions, players who know how to win, how to play in moments of pressure.”
“Really happy with my performance and with the way I handled the situation so far.”
Completing her second Grand Slam since returning to competition last April after giving birth in October last year, the Ukrainian became only the third wildcard to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, but the first to do so in more than a decade.
He could finish the quarterfinals in straight sets. He recovered from trailing by break in the first two sets to put himself in good position to inflict a shock defeat. She trailed 3-5 in the first set and 1-3 in the second, then took a 4/1 lead in the second set tiebreak before Swiatek hit four winners in the next six points to level the tie in one set.
However, the Ukrainian tennis player bounced back by snatching the first five games in the third set before finally coming out victorious.
“Many good rallies, many impressive games. A challenging situation, a difficult moment,” said Svitolina. “I really enjoyed the match. Even though I was really disappointed with the second set, that I couldn’t win it in two sets, Iga played amazing.”
“Then I worked my way back up and found myself winning the game in the end.”
The next task for Elina Svitolina is the Wimbledon semifinal match against Czech tennis player, Marketa Vondrousova.
