Iga Swiatek: "I'll root for Elina Svitolina, especially because we like each other as people"
Iga Swiatek revealed that she will be rooting for Elina Svitolina to win her maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon this week.
The 2023 Wimbledon Championships witnessed its biggest upset yet, with top seed Swiatek bowing out of the tournament after losing out to Svitolina, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2, in the quarterfinals.
The Ukrainian's win over Swiatek is her seventh against a World No. 1 in her career. The 28-year-old earlier defeated three different former Grand Slam champions en route to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. In the first round, she beat Venus Williams, followed by wins over Sofia Kenin and Victoria Azarenka in the third and fourth rounds respectively.
Speaking in her post-match press conference, Iga Swiatek vouched for the Ukrainian to win her maiden Grand Slam, especially since she made a comeback after embracing motherhood.
"I think overall, looking at her career, having a Grand Slam title would be pretty amazing for her. She's coming back after becoming a mother."
The World No. 1 also highlighted how badly Svitolina wants to win a Grand Slam.
"I think, yeah, I'll root for her, especially because we like each other as people. I told her on the net that I hope she win this tournament. You know how it is in tennis: it's tough to win a Grand Slam. I know that for sure she wants it really bad. So I will be rooting for her, yeah."
Iga Swiatek: "She played with more freedom and more guts and she played really, really fast"
Iga Swiatek further heaped praise on Elina Svitolina for her stunning win over her at Wimbledon. Talking about how the Ukrainian played, the Pole said that her opponent was really fast and played more freely.
"I think she played with more freedom and more guts. Sometimes she really just let go of her hand and she played really, really fast."
The four-time Grand Slam winner recalled her last practice with Svitolina and said that the latter has certainly changed her playing style. She, however, asserted later that one has to show 'guts' to win these crucial matches.
"We also practiced in Australia. I didn't remember that she was changing rhythm so much in terms of playing these faster shots sometimes. But I totally get that, why she's doing that. It totally makes sense. You have to have guts if you want to win these matches," Iga Swiatek added.
Elina Svitolina will now take on Marketa Vondrousova on July 13 at the Centre Court in the semifinals, her second time reaching this stage of the tournament.