Three months after coming back from maternity go away, Elina Svitolina reached the Wimbledon semifinals by beating top-ranked Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 Tuesday.
The 28-year-old Ukrainian gave beginning to her daughter in October and returned to the WTA tour in April. She acquired a wild-card entry to the grass-court match one month after reaching the quarterfinals on the French Open.
“First of all I’m going to have a beer, probably,” Svitolina mentioned on court docket.
“At the beginning of the tournament if someone would tell me that I will be in the semifinal and beating world No. 1, I would just say that they’re crazy.”
Swiatek, a four-time main champion, gained her third French Open title final month however was taking part in within the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the primary time.
At one level, Svitolina gained 20 of twenty-two factors towards Swiatek on Centre Court, together with 16 of the ultimate 18 factors within the first set.
Svitolina will subsequent face Marketa Vondrousova for a spot in Saturday’s closing. It would be the Ukrainian participant’s second look within the Wimbledon semifinals. She misplaced to eventual champion Simona Halep at that stage in 2019.
“I’m just going to enjoy tonight and then get some treatment, get some massage, much needed and then just regroup and be ready for the next big battle,” Svitolina mentioned.
Svitolina has been ranked as excessive as No. 3 on the earth and in addition reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2019. She is at present ranked 76th. To attain the semifinals this 12 months, she has crushed 4 Grand Slam champions — Venus Williams within the first spherical, Sofia Kenin within the third, Victoria Azarenka within the fourth and Swiatek within the quarterfinals.
Vondrousova gained 5 straight video games within the closing set to beat fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 on No. 1 Court. The left-handed Czech who reached the French Open closing in 2019 trailed 4-1 within the third set however didn’t lose one other recreation after that.
“I’m just trying to stay in every game. It can change pretty quickly,” Vondrousova mentioned.
“She got so much better in the second set. She was pushing me today.” Pegula is now 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals. The 29-year-old American was taking part in at this stage at Wimbledon for the primary time.
Vondrousova had gained solely 4 matches on grass heading into the match on the All England Club. But she has gained 5 in a row on the floor during the last eight days.
“My best result here was second round. It’s amazing. I’m just loving grass now,” Vondrousova mentioned.
The victory for Vondrousova is her fourth over a seeded participant at this 12 months’s Wimbledon match. She beat No. 12 Veronika Kudermetova within the second spherical, No. 20 Donna Vekic within the third spherical and No. 32 Marie Bouzkova within the fourth spherical.
Pegula was main 3-1 within the third set when play was suspended in order that the roof over No. 1 Court may very well be closed with rain approaching. Pegula then held serve within the subsequent recreation to steer 4-1 earlier than Vondrousova took over.
Later Tuesday within the males’s quarterfinals, seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic will face Andrey Rublev on Centre Court and Jannik Sinner was taking part in Roman Safiullin on No. 1 Court.
