Svitolina Sinks Swiatek To Reach Wimbledon SF, Vondrousova Ousts Pegula; Rybakina v Jabeur
Two unseeded underdogs — Elina Svitolina and Marketa Vondrousova — advanced Tuesday to the semifinals at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Svitolina stunned world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-7(5-7), 6-2.
“It means the world to me, I didn’t really expect that I’ll be in semifinal,” Svitolina said. “I want to continue going this way. Have in front of me a big challenge. But I’m really, really proud the way that I’ve been playing against tough opponents, Grand Slam champions, the players who knows how to win, how to play pressure moments.”
The 28-year-old Svitolina, playing her first Wimbledon as a mother, was two points from losing the opener at 3-5 in the first but then caught fire to take the lead.
After a delay to close the roof for the approaching rain, Swiatek built an early lead in the second then held on to take the breaker and level. But Swiatek grabbed the early break and pulled off the upset to reach her second Wimbledon semifinal, and third Slam semifinal of her career.
“Lots of good rallies we had. Lots of good games. Tough situations. Tough moments,” Svitolina said. “The crowd was great today. Really enjoyed the match. Even though I was really disappointed with the second set, that I couldn’t win in two, but Iga played unbelievable. All credits to her to winning that second set.
“But then I tried to bounce back, tried to again go again. Yeah, just found myself winning the match in the end.”
Swiatek did one better than last year, but still came up short.
“I know that for sure she wants it really bad,” Swiatek said. “So I will be rooting for her, yeah.
“I think she played with more freedom and more guts. 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 because we just played once. We also practiced in Australia. I didn’t remember that she was changing rhythm so much in terms of playing these faster shots sometimes.”
Svitolina will likely be the favorite against Vondrousova come Thursday. Vondrousova advanced past a snakebit Jessica Pegula 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to reach her first Wimbledon semifinal, and second Slam semi.
After the match stopped at 3-1 in the third, Pegula led 4-1 with a point for 5-1 in the decider but Vondrousova stormed back winning the last five games.
“It’s amazing feeling,” Vondrousova said. “I was down one point in the third set. So, yeah, I mean, my thoughts weren’t so good. Yeah, I mean, I’m just very happy. I was fighting through the whole match.”
Pegula falls to 0-6 in Slam quarterfinals as her struggles in this stage continues.
Tomorrow, in a rematch of the 2022 final, Elena Rybakina takes on Ons Jabeur. The two are tied 2-2.
New tournament favorite Aryna Sabalenka will look to return to the semifinals against fellow-big hitter Madison Keys. The two have split two head-to-head tour-level encounters with Keys winning in Berlin over two years ago.
Sabalenka can now grab the No. 1 ranking by reaching the final.
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