Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina upset top seed Iga Swiatek in a three-set thriller Tuesday at Wimbledon, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 2-6.
A five-star performance 🌟@ElinaSvitolina defeats the world No.1 Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2 to reach the semi-finals at #Wimbledon once again pic.twitter.com/l6nUu17KHj
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2023
Svitolina, who gave birth to her first child less than nine months ago, will advance to the semifinals in just her second Grand Slam tournament since her return. She becomes the third wild card to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon — and the first to do so in more than a decade.
Overall, Svitolina advances to her third career Grand Slam semifinal and second at Wimbledon. For Swiatek, the quarterfinals marks her career-best finish at Wimbledon.
Following the win, she gave credit to Swiatek, who has been vocal in her support for Ukraine during Russia’s invasion.
“Iga is not only a great champion, she’s an unbelievable person. She was one of the first ones that really helped Ukrainian people,” Svitolina said after the match. “It was a huge help for Ukraine. It’s not easy to play someone you share lots of good moments with.”
The former world No. 3, Svitolina won 82% of points on her first serve and 111 points total. She also won 70 service points and six of nine break points.
Svitolina’s upset win marked the second of two matches on the women’s singles side Tuesday. No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula also was upset in three sets, falling to Markéta Vondrousová.