Wildcard Elina Svitolina stunned top seed Iga Swiatek to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals and will face Marketa Vondrousova, who also caused an upset.
Ukrainian Svitolina, who returned to the tour in April after having her daughter in October, won 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 as Swiatek’s forehand crumbled.
She will now take on unseeded Czech Vondrousova, who beat American fourth seed Jessica Pegula 6-4 2-6 6-4.
Asked how she was going to prepare for Thursday’s semi-final, Svitolina replied with a grin: “Well, first of all I am going to have a beer probably.
“I’m going to enjoy this with my team. At the beginning of the tournament if somebody would tell me that I will be in the semi-final and beating the world number one, I would say they are crazy.”
As well as coming just nine months after becoming a mum, her achievement of matching her best Grand Slam result has come against the backdrop of war in her home country.
YOU CAN ALSO READ:Osaka Gives Birth To Baby Girl
Swiatek has been wearing a yellow and blue ribbon in the colours of the Ukrainian flag in support of the country since the invasion and Svitolina voiced her appreciation in her on-court interview.
“Iga is not only a great champion, she is also an unbelievable person. She was one of the first who helped the Ukrainian people and was a huge help for Ukraine,” she said.
“So for sure it’s not easy to play against someone that you share a lot of good moments and I think for her it was not easy but in the end I was really proud with the effort I did today.”
Top popular
Post comments (0)