Wimbledon 2023: Elina Svitolina makes sensational comeback after maternity leave, beats world No. 1 Inga Swiatek

Recently returned from maternity leave, Elina Svitolina made a stunning comeback by making it to the Wimbledon semi-finals. The 28-year-old Ukrainian beat top-ranked Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2 in a thrilling match on Tuesday. Svitolina, who gave birth to her daughter in October, rejoined the WTA Tour in April and received a wild-card entry into the grass-court tournament after reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open.

a five star performance_@elinasvitolina World No. 1 Iga reached the semi-finals after defeating Swiatek 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2. #wimbledon once again pic.twitter.com/l6nUu17KHj

— wimbledon (@wimbledon) 11 July 2023

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In an interview after the match, Svitolina expressed disbelief at her accomplishments, saying, “First of all I’m probably going to drink a beer. At the start of the tournament, if someone told me to make the semifinals and beat the world No. 1, I would I’ll just say they’re crazy.” Her opponent, Inga Swiatek, a four-time major champion, won her third French Open title last month but was playing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time. Svitolina dominated the match at one point, winning 20 of 22 points against Swiatek on Center Court, including 16 of the last 18 points in the first set.

Svitolina’s next challenge will be against Marketa Vondrousova and a win in that match will seal her place in Saturday’s final. This will be Svitolina’s second appearance in the Wimbledon semifinals, her previous attempt in 2019 resulted in a loss to eventual champion Simona Halep.

Despite her current ranking of 76th in the world, Svitolina has displayed remarkable form throughout the tournament. She has defeated four Grand Slam champions en route to the semifinals: Venus Williams in the first round, Sofia Kenin in the third, Victoria Azarenka in the fourth, and now Swiatek in the quarterfinals.

In another quarterfinal match, Marketa Vondrousova prevailed over fourth seeded Jessica Pegula in a closely fought match, which ended with a score of 6–4, 2–6, 6–4 on the No. 1 court. Vondrousova, a left-handed Czech who reached the final of the French Open in 2019, came back from 4-1 down in the third set. The victory was her fifth in a row on grass over the past eight days, an impressive feat considering her limited success on the surface previously.

Vondrousova expressed her delight at her unexpected progress, saying, “My best result here was the second round. It’s amazing. I’m just loving the grass now.” The win over Pegula was Vondrousova’s fourth against a seed at this year’s Wimbledon tournament, having defeated No. 12 Veronika Kudermetova, No. 20 Donna Vekic and No. 32 Marie Bouzkova in the previous rounds.

As the tournament progresses, fans are eagerly waiting for the upcoming men’s quarterfinal matches. Seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic is set to face Andrey Rublev on Center Court, while Janik Sinner will compete against Roman Safiullin on No. 1 Court at the end of the day.