Elina Svitolina says living through a time when her country is at war has made her stronger after pulling off one of the biggest wins of her career, defeating Iga Swiatek, the top seed, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 in a dramatic 2hr 51min battle to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.
“I think war made me stronger and also made me mentally stronger,” Svitolina said. “Mentally I don’t take difficult situations as like a disaster, you know? There are worse things in life.”
The Ukrainian’s win marks the continuation of one of the most remarkable comebacks in recent years. Svitolina, a former No 3, recently returned to competition after having a daughter, Skaï, last October, with her husband and fellow tennis player Gaël Monfils. Svitolina, 28, had already reached the French Open quarter-finals last month in her first grand slam tournament back.
“I’m just calmer,” she said. “I think also, because I just started to play again, I have different pressures. Of course, I want to win. I have this motivation, like huge motivation, to come back to the top. But I think having a child, and war, made me a different person. I look at things a bit differently.”
Across the net from Svitolina, Swiatek has been one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine among tennis players since Russia’s invasion, with the world No 1 wearing a Ukraine flag ribbon on her cap. Svitolina said it was even tougher to face the Pole knowing how Swiatek has helped her.
“It was a much tougher game, I would say, because she’s a great person, she’s a big champion,” she said. “She’s done so much, and is doing still so much for Ukraine. We really admire her in Ukraine. In the way when you’re playing your good buddy, it’s tough because you don’t want to see her/him losing.”
Svitolina is ranked 76th and needed a wildcard to enter the Wimbledon draw after falling to No 508 during the ranking cut-off period in May. She has defeated four former grand slam champions in five matches en route to the last four: Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka and Swiatek.
According to Svitolina, it is unlikely that Monfils and Skaï will join her in London. “She’s with Gaël right now at home. I was FaceTiming with her just right after the match actually,” she said. “She was really distracted with her ice-cream, so I was not the priority there. She is still at this age when she doesn’t care if I win, if I lose. She’s just happy by herself or sometimes when I come back home she’s happy, too.”
In the semi-finals Svitolina will face the unseeded Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, who defeated Jessica Pegula, the fourth seed, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
