Elina Svitolina's rise - from being an umpire during maternity leave to beating Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon
Elina Svitolina's dream run after returning to tennis continues as she has booked her place in the Wimbledon semifinals by beating World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
Svitolina had a disappointing start to the 2022 season with only five wins out of 13 matches before taking a break from tennis. That eventually turned into a maternity leave, as she was pregnant with her first child.
During this period, in July 2022, Svitolina was an umpire for an exhibition match between Iga Swiatek and Agnieszka Radwanska in Krakow. The event was held for relief efforts in Ukraine, and it raised over £400,000.
Elina Svitolina and her husband Gael Monfils became parents in October 2022, when she gave birth to their daughter Skai. The Ukrainian eventually returned to action on the WTA Tour at the 2023 Charleston Open, but suffered an opening-round defeat to Yulia Putintseva.
Following early exits at a couple of ITF tournaments, as well as the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, Svitolina won the Internationaux de Strasbourg. She followed that up by reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.
The Ukrainian had a disappointing start to the grass-court season, as she suffered a 6-2, 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Linda Fruhvirtova in the first round of the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham. However, she has put that in the rearview mirror with her dream run at Wimbledon.
Svitolina received a wildcard for the grass-court Major and started by beating Venus Williams in the first round. She then beat 28th seed Elise Mertens, Sofia Kenin and 19th seed Victoria Azarenka to book her place in the quarterfinals.
Facing World No. 1 Iga Swiatek, the 28-year-old produced arguably the upset of the tournament. Svitolina beat Swiatek 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2 to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon for the second time in her career.
Svitolina is now assured of a return to at least the top 30 of the WTA rankings. That is quite an achievement considering her ranking was 1344 when she made her return to tennis.
Elina Svitolina will take on Marketa Vondrousova in the Wimbledon semifinals
After stunning Iga Swiatek, Elina Svitolina will take on Marketa Vondrousova in the semifinals of Wimbledon.
It will be the sixth meeting between the two, with the Ukrainian leading 3-2 in the head-to-head. The two will, however, be locking horns in a Grand Slam match for the first time.
The last meeting between Svitolina and Vondrousova came in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics. Vondrousova won that match 6-3, 6-1 to reach the final, where she lost to Belinda Bencic.
If the Ukrainian beats Vondrousova on Thursday, she will reach her maiden Grand Slam final.