Inspired by a sense of responsibility to her native Ukraine and a fresh outlook on life since becoming a mother, Elina Svitolina is a Wimbledon semi-finalist once more.
Nine months after giving birth to her daughter Skaï, and just three months after returning to the tour, Svitolina scored the biggest upset of the tournament so far, defeating Iga Swiatek, the top seed, 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 on an afternoon drenched with drama and emotion.
It was one of the most significant victories of Svitolina’s career, matching her best previous performances at the majors, which came when she reached the last four of Wimbledon and the US Open in 2019. Those runs came in very different circumstances. The 28-year-old former world No 3 was still a top-10 player back then, not a wildcard ranked 76th. There was peace in Odesa, the port city in southern Ukraine where she was born, and where her 85-year-old grandmother – with whom she speaks almost daily – still lives. As for marriage and motherhood, they were yet to come, her relationship with fellow player Gaël Monfils still in its early days.
“I think war made me mentally stronger,” said Svitolina, reflecting on the altered landscape of her life. “Mentally I don’t take difficult situations as like a disaster, you know? There are worse things in life. I’m just calmer.
“I think also, because I just started to play again, I have different pressures. Of course, I want to win. I have this motivation, like huge motivation, to come back to the top. But I think having a child, and war, made me a different person. I look at things a bit differently.”
She plays differently, too, as Swiatek discovered. Traditionally a counter-puncher who relies principally on her defensive skills and athleticism, Svitolina has added a more aggressive edge to her game since her comeback, most notably an increased willingness to take on a forehand that can be lethally effective. That weapon carried her to the French Open quarter-finals last month and served her well at the key moments here, not least during an astonishing first-set sequence in which she won 20 out of 22 points to cancel out a 5-3 lead for the Polish world No 1.
“I think she played with more freedom and more guts,” said Swiatek, who broke twice in the early stages without ever managing to break away.
“Sometimes she really just let go of her hand and she played really, really fast. I don’t know if she played like that before.
“She was changing rhythm so much in terms of playing these faster shots sometimes.”
Visibly stressed in the latter stages of the opening set, Swiatek initially appeared to benefit from a timely rain delay. The Pole sought the advice of her coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, while the roof was being closed, and also had a lengthy discussion with her mental coach, Daria Abramowicz. The 22-year-old returned to the fray a calmer figure, and once again seized an early break, capitalising on some sloppy play from Svitolina.
History was to repeat itself, though, a combination of Svitolina’s enterprise and the Pole’s errors cancelling out the advantage, and the eventually needed all her resilience to cancel out a 4-1 deficit in the second-set tiebreak.
In the previous round, Swiatek performed a similar act of escapology late in the second set against Belinda Bencic, saving two match points. That was enough to see her home on that occasion, but there was no let-down from Svitolina, who stuck doggedly to her task all afternoon, never allowing Swiatek to establish the momentum on which she thrives. Some heavy returning from the Ukrainian in the third game of the decider gave her the platform for a break, and Swiatek’s mistakes did the rest. There would be no way back for the French and US Open champion, who finished the contest with a whopping 41 unforced errors.
“I didn’t feel today like I could play my best game,” said Swiatek. “But I gave my all in everything that I could do.
“It’s hard for me to point to one thing that failed exactly. I think Elina was just overall playing aggressively and giving it all in every shot.
“For sure I played some mistakes that I shouldn’t do. That’s why I lost. But she also put pressure on me.”
Yet nobody has felt more pressure at these championships than Svitolina, who knows that every win is also a small victory for her country. In Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka and Swiatek, she has beaten a quartet of grand slam champions, only the fourth player in the open era to achieve that distinction. Svitolina is doing all she can to raise funds and awareness for her embattled country off the court, but she also understands the value of whatever joy she can bring on it.
“I know that lots of people back in Ukraine are watching,” said Svitolina. “I’m happy I can bring a little happiness to their life. There were many videos on the internet where the kids are watching on their phones. This really makes my heart melt, seeing this. Just happy I could bring a little happiness to people of Ukraine.”
As for Swiatek, she leaves with a first Wimbledon quarter-final on her CV and a clear sense that she has made progress on her least favoured surface. Having previously struggled with her movement on grass, she has more closely resembled her usual dynamic self these past nine days. She has improved technically and tactically, serving with greater authority and showing a greater commitment to attack, and once she perfects the adjustments required to bring her forehand to bear with greater consistency, a title challenge will surely follow. For now, though, like just about everyone else, she will be cheering for Svitolina.
“I’ll root for her, especially because we like each other as people,” said Swiatek, whose unwavering support for Ukraine since the Russian invasion began has earned universal respect, not least from Svitolina, with whom she shared a touching embrace at the end.
“I told her at the net that I hope she wins this tournament. You know how it is in tennis: it’s tough to win a grand slam. I know that for sure she wants it really bad.”
The same could be said for Jessica Pegula, the fourth seed, whose sixth grand slam quarter-final went the way of the previous five as she was undone 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 by Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
Things began promisingly for Pegula when she claimed an early break, but slowly the American became entangled in here 24-year-old opponent’s rhythm-disrupting web of southpaw spins and drop shots. Having dropped the opening set, however, Pegula began to make headway, finding her range from the baseline and volleying with a smoothness and assurance befitting of a woman ranked third in the world in doubles.
By the time rain arrived, forcing a short delay while the roof was closed, Pegula was a break up in the decider and seemingly on course for a first major semi-final. But although she came within two points of a 5-1 lead, Vondrousova’s aggression down the stretch proved decisive.
“It sucks to lose that way, having the lead in the third,” said Pegula, who agreed with Vondrousova’s observation that the delay came at a perfect moment for the Czech.
“It definitely changed momentum, because I totally had the momentum going to serve that 4-1 game. I still had chances with the roof closed. She played solid. She literally didn’t miss for, like, the next five games.”
Vondrousova, who reached the French Open final four years ago but has been plagued by injury, revealed afterwards that a phone call to her husband during the delay helped to inspire her emotional victory.
“He just said, ‘Try to fight. You are playing good. You are playing a great match,’” said Vondrousova, the world No 42, who will now face Svitolina for a place in the final.
“After the match point, I couldn’t believe it. We were playing [an] amazing match, she is a great player. I think everything just went on, and I just couldn’t hold the tears.”