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July 11 (UPI) — Elina Svitolina achieved a remarkable upset at Wimbledon 2023, defeating top-ranked Iga Swiatek in three sets to advance to the semifinals on Tuesday in London.
Svitolina, who reached the semifinals in two previous majors, is now aiming for her first Grand Slam final. She will face No. 42 Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic on Thursday at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club.
“It’s truly unbelievable,” Svitolina expressed during the ESPN broadcast. “I’m extremely happy to have this opportunity to play here again. I had a great match in an amazing atmosphere. It was an incredible feeling for me.”
Svitolina, currently ranked No. 76 in the WTA Tour singles rankings, recorded five aces, 25 winners, and broke Swiatek’s serve six times in her quarterfinal victory with a score of 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2. She committed 25 unforced errors, while Swiatek had 41.
Swiatek finished the match on Centre Court with three aces, 37 winners, and converted 3 of 5 break point opportunities in the 2-hour, 51-minute encounter.
“I fought hard,” Svitolina commented. “It wasn’t easy playing against Iga today. She is the world No. 1 and always puts up a fight. Today’s match was extraordinary, and I’m really happy I came out as the winner.”
On the men’s side, No. 8 Jannik Sinner of Italy defeated No. 92 Roman Safiullin of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to secure his place in the semifinals. Sinner outperformed Safiullin with 14-8 in aces, 36-27 in winners, and 20-32 in unforced errors. He also converted 6 of 12 break point opportunities, while Safiullin managed 2 of 5.
No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the top men’s player, also played on Tuesday. After losing the first set 4-6 to No. 7 Andrey Rublev of Russia, Djokovic dominated by winning the next three sets 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. He will face Sinner in the semifinals.
No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will compete against No. 6 Holger Rune of Denmark in the final men’s quarterfinal on Wednesday. No. 3 Daniil Medvedev of Russia will face No. 43 Chris Eubanks of the United States in the other men’s quarterfinal on Day 10.
In the women’s competition, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus is set to meet No. 25 Madison Keys of the United States in the first women’s quarterfinal. No. 3 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan will face No. 6 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia to determine the final women’s singles semifinalist.
Coverage of Wednesday’s quarterfinals will begin at 8 a.m. EDT on ESPN and ESPN2. The semifinals will commence at the same time on Thursday and Friday on ESPN.
The women’s final will be aired at 9 a.m. on Saturday, while the men’s singles finale will follow on Sunday, both on ESPN.
