Wimbledon 2023 | Vondrousova reaches semifinals; Svitolina topples Swiatek in quarterfinals

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina reacts during her quarterfinal match against Poland’s Iga Swiatek during the Wimbledon 2023 tennis championship in London on July 11, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Unseeded Marketa Vondrousova reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon with a roller-coaster 6-4 2-6 6-4 win over American Jessica Pegula in the last eight on July 11.

The Czech came through a topsy-turvy encounter on Court One against the fourth seed to book a clash with Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who beat world number one Iga Swiatek.

The first set was a whirlwind with five breaks of serve in nine games, the momentum swinging wildly while many spectators were still taking their seats under sunny skies.

However, it was 24-year-old Vondrousova who secured the crucial break at 4-4 when a baseline rally ended with Pegula sending a backhand long.

The Czech brought up set point with an ace and duly held to love as she eyed a first Grand Slam semi-final since her runner-up finish at the French Open in 2019.

The twists and turns kept coming, though, as Pegula began finding her range in the second set. She began approaching the net more often with great success, breaking her left-handed opponent early en route to taking a 4-1 lead.

The American broke again at 5-2 with an excellent low volley to level the match, as 42nd ranked Vondrousova struggled with her shot placement despite being the more powerful hitter from the baseline.

In the decider, momentum looked to be staying with the 29-year-old Pegula as she saved three break points in the first three games and then broke Vondrousova by forcing her long.

But there was still time for one final twist. The roof was closed, as rain was expected, and when play resumed Vondrousva broke back twice more, as well as breaking her opponent’s resistance from the baseline in a terrific game to lead 5-4.

She served out the match to book her semifinal spot, becoming the third woman in the Open era to reach the Wimbledon last four after defeating four seeded opponents – after Zheng Jie in 2008 and Barbora Strycova in 2019.

“It was very tough and just an amazing feeling … I never played here on court number one. It’s amazing. I just wanted to stay as long as I could and fought until the end and I’m just so happy. I cannot believe it, actually,” she said on court.

For Pegula, it was another quarter-final heartbreak, having never gone beyond the last eight at a Grand Slam.

Swiatek toppled by Svitolina in Wimbledon quarterfinals

Even the world’s best players are not immune to crippling nerves as Iga Swiatek discovered when her Wimbledon dreams were turned to dust in a 7-5 6-7(5) 6-2 quarterfinal defeat by Ukrainian wildcard Elina Svitolina.

Svitolina, who returned to the tour in April after giving birth to her daughter last October, was 4-2 down in the opening set and struggled to get her serve going in blustery conditions on Centre Court as Swiatek moved into a 5-3 lead.

But the momentum suddenly swung Svitolina’s way as from 0-30 down on her serve in the ninth game she went on to win 16 of the next 18 points to bag the first set and leave stunned Swiatek wondering what had gone wrong.

That sequence included breaking Swiatek’s serve twice in succession, with the Polish top seed surrendering the first of those to love with a double fault.

After Swiatek guided a backhand volley into the tramlines to hand Svitolina the set, the players had to endure a 20-minute break as the roof was closed to shut out the dark clouds hovering over Centre Court.

That interlude gave Swiatek a chance to re-evaluate her tactics and she came back to break Svitolina for a 2-1 lead in the second set.

The top seed’s 28-year-old rival, however, kept breathing down her neck and made it all square at 3-3 by pounding some ferocious groundstrokes from the baseline.

Swiatek earned two more break points in the ninth game but once those went begging neither player could break the deadlock and they headed into the tiebreak.

Svitolina made a fast and furious start to jump into a 4-2 lead but Swiatek, who saved two match points to beat Belinda Bencic in the previous round, refused to panic and kept faith with her fearsome forehand to rattle her rival.

A backhand error handed Swiatek the set and many thought Svitolina’s moment to shine had come and gone as surely the world number one would now stamp her authority on the contest and race away with the decider.

But, having already beaten three Grand Slam champions in the run-up to her showdown with Swiatek, Svitolina had an appetite for beating more celebrated opponents and she was not going to let the Pole stand in her way as she targeted a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second time in four years.

Svitolina kept believing as she broke for a 2-1 lead and then blew a hole in the aura around Swiatek, who was riding a 14-match winning streak which included her run to a third French Open title, after grabbing a double break two games later.

There was no coming back for Swiatek from that gaping abyss and a forehand into the net handed Svitolina a remarkable win.