Wildcard Elina Svitolina, who gave birth to her first child just nine months ago, has not only recently won a WTA title, but has now also returned to the semifinals of Wimbledon for the first time since 2019 with an awe-inspiring victory over world No.1 Iga Swiatek, 7-5 6-7(5) 6-2.
Only the third wildcard in the Open Era to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, Svitolina twice recovered from a break down and won two straight games from 5-all to take the first set. In the second set, Swiatek was again the first one to go up a break, 3-1, and the Pole once again dropped the lead, but in the end she managed to edge the tiebreak and force the third set.
The world No.76 Svitolina, who returned to the WTA Tour just three months ago, dominated the deciding set and eliminated the top-seeded Swiatek who is spending her 67th week at the top of the rankings.
Svitolina’s semifinal opponent will be Marketa Vondrousova, who fought past fourth seed Jessica Pegula on Court No.1. The other two quarterfinals are scheduled for Wednesday: Ons Jabeur vs. defending champion Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka vs. Madison Keys. If Sabalenka reaches the final, she will have a chance of overtaking Swiatek as the No.1 WTA player.
