A new champion will be crowned at @Wimbledon 👑 pic.twitter.com/ATTRwWpe0F
— wta (@WTA) July 12, 2023
Back in the day, when Elina Svitolina was in the top 5, she was known as an outstanding defensive player who wasn't aggressive enough to transcend her status on the tour. She was also known for her outstanding movement on the court. Now, back from giving birth to a daughter (and continuing to deal with the tragedy occurring in her country), she brilliantly played her way to the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where she met another outstanding mover, world number 1 Iga Swiatek.
But this wasn't just the Svitolina who could match Swiatek's speed and footwork--this was a new Svitolina, who had developed offensive skills (including an improved serve), and--in doing so--had also developed quite a bit of confidence. That confidence was on full display when Swiatek led 5-3, 30-0 in the opening set, and Svitolina broke her. Swiatek served for the set again at 6-4, and Svitolina broke her at love.
The world number 1 would go on to win the second set in a tiebreak, and fans would have been justified in thinking that "order had been restored." However, as good a mover as Swiatek is on clay and hard courts, she still struggles with moving on grass. This doesn't mean that she won't eventually conquer the surface--recall Sharapova's "cow on ice" moment. (The Sharapova remark was funny, but inaccurate--cows are quite graceful. When I was a child, I saw them easily cross the cattle gap constructed to keep them out of the neighborhood.)
But in her Wimbledon quarterfinal, Svitolina was able to out-move the Polish star. In fact, the third set, which Svitolina won 6-2, was a clinic in how to flummox Swiatek. The top seed ended the match with 41 unforced errors, and was clearly uncomfortable throughout much of the match.
Svitolina has now defeated four major champions--Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Bianca Andreescu, and Swiatek.
Yesterday's other quarterfinal featured another comeback player, Marketa Vondrousova, who has had to endure two wrist surgeries in the last few years. The 2019 French Open finalist and 2020 Olympic silver medalist has been very impressive throughout this tournament, taking out three seeded players in the first four rounds. She topped that in the quarterfinals, defeating 4th seed Jessica Pegula 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Prior to this year, Vondrousova had won only four main draw matches on grass.
As for Pegula, she has now reached six major quarterfinals (three of them at the Australian Open), but has yet to go beyond quarterfinal success.
Today's quarterfinal match between Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka was all about Sabalenka. Keys, herself a big hitter, was no match for the big, yet precision-like, play of Sabalenka, who defeated her 6-2, 6-4.
And then there was the much-anticipated "re-match" of last year's Wimbledon final: Ons Jabeur again faced off against defending champion Elena Rybakina, and--in this case--revenge was a dish best served hot.
The first set was very close, and Rybakina won it in a tiebreak. In the second set, one converted break point was enough to give Jabeur a 6-4 win. But what was most likely anticipated as a tense third set (I certainly had this anticipation) was not to be. Jabeur, not content to rely solely on her usual bag of highly impressive tricks, unleashed enough aggression to throw Rybakina off her game. Indeed, the defending champion's serve disintegrated, and Jabeur emerged the victor, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1.
Here is the singles semifinal draw:
Elena Svitolina (WC) vs. Marketa Vondrousova
Ons Jabeur (6) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2)
And here is the doubles semifinal draw:
Caroline Dolehide/Zhang Shuai (16) vs. Storm Hunter/Elise Mertens (3)
Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova vs. Marie Bouzkova/Sara Sorribes Tormo
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