Elina Svitolina matched her best-ever Wimbledon result by beating Iga Swiatek in the quarter-final advancing to the semi-final.
The best-ever result for Svitolina at Wimbledon came in 2019 when she played in the semi-final. She's going to be there once more after beating the top seed at the event in three sets. The Ukranian will have a golden chance to make the final as she'll face Marketa Vondrousova who defeated Jessica Pegula earlier today.
Svitolina played really well so far at this event but beating Iga Swiatek was always going to be very hard. It almost proved easier than most assumed but eventually, Swiatek was able to push the match to three sets. Still, Svitolina prevailed by playing some of the best tennis she's played in years.
The Polish player did a solid prep in Bad Homburg winning a few matches and she added a few wins in Wimbledon along the way. All of that allowed her to be quite confident against Svitolina and she did jump out to an early lead.
When it comes to the on-court stuff, well Svitolina tried to outhit Swiatek but it didn't work. There is no really a different choice because that's the only way to beat her. The Pole must face a lot of pressure in order to lose the point and even then there is a good chance that she won't.
Still, Svitolina found a way though she was greatly helped by Swiatek who once again got broken when she was supposed to serve out the set. Svitolina then used that momentum to break Swiatek and take the opening set 7-5 in an incredible turnaround.
The Polish player looked very comfortable but then got nervous slamming too many balls wide to drop the set. Rain came upon the conclusion of the first set so it gave her a good chance to cool down and rethink her approach.
The second set opened with her taking an early lead though she didn't hold it for much as Svitolina kept battling and tying it again at 3-3. The Polish player never managed to really outplay her opponent because every time she found some solid rhythm, Svitolina battled back.
The Ukranian admitted recently that she's never been this motivated and it truly shows. She's playing fantastic tennis and battling for every point, an approach that ultimately proved decisive here. The second set finished in a tiebreak, one in which Svitolina had a 4-2 lead but she couldn't hold on as Swiatek emerged on top 7-5.
That didn't rattle her too much as Svitolina kept playing her game and actually outplayed the Polish player who was abysmal to start the set. She tried to continue with her aggressive play but it backfired badly as she racked up 11 unforced errors in 5 games of play.
The score said 4-1 for Svitolina with a double break lead and it proved enough. She would close it out in three sets. The final score was 7-5 6-7(5) 6-2 for Svitolina who had 5 aces, 25 winners, and 25 unforced errors.
0 Comments