By Matt Hardy
Elina Svitolina praised Iga Swiatek as an “unbelievable person” for her support of Ukraine after the wildcard toppled the world No1 today in the biggest shock so far at Wimbledon.
Svitolina, who has steadily been making a comeback after giving birth nine months ago, beat the Ladies’ Singles favourite 7-5 6-7 6-2 in front of an adoring Centre Court crowd who applauded each time the 28-year-old mentioned Swiatek’s vocal stance against the war in Ukraine.
Swiatek also wore blue and yellow ribbons throughout the tournament in a gesture of support to Ukraine.
Svitolina: Swiatek unbelievable person
“Iga is not only a great champion, she is also an unbelievable person. She was one of the first who helped the Ukrainian people and was a huge help for Ukraine,” Svitolina said.
“So for sure it’s not easy to play against someone that you share a lot of good moments with and I think for her it was not easy but in the end I was really proud with the effort I did today.”
She added: “It’s an unbelievable feeling, first of all I am going to have a beer.
“I’m going to enjoy this with my team. At the beginning of the tournament, if somebody would tell me that I will be in the semi-final and beating the world No1, I would say they are crazy.”
Svitolina’s reward in the semi-finals is unseeded Marketa Vondrousova, who caused another upset today with her 6-4 2-6 6-4 victory over fourth seed Jessica Pegula.
Ons Jabeur and defending champion Elena Rybakina will face off for the chance to play either American
Madison Keys or Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the other semi-final.
Elsewhere at the All England Club, favourite for the men’s title Novak Djokovic beat Andrey Rublev 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-3 on Centre Court while Italian Jannik Sinner needed four sets to topple Russian Roman Safiullin on No1 Court.
