Czech Marketa Vondrousova showed there was no room for any gushing sentiment as she ended the remarkable run of new mum Elina Svitolina with a 6-3 6-3 victory to reach the Wimbledon final for the first time on Thursday. In the run-up to a first All England Club women’s semi-final featuring two unseeded players, Vondrousova said the Ukrainian was “incredible”, “amazing”, “a fighter” and “a super woman” for reaching the last four of a Grand Slam nine months after giving birth to daughter Skai.
But that did not stop Vondrousova from shattering Svitolina’s dreams and she now stands one win from completing her own phenomenal comeback story after two wrist surgeries following her runner-up finish at the French Open in 2019.
“I cannot believe it. I am very happy that I made the final. Elina is such a fighter and a great person. It was a tough match. I am very happy,” said the 42nd-ranked Vondrousova.
She will be bidding to become the first unseeded woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish when she faces either Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka or Tunisian sixth seed Ons Jabeur in Saturday’s final.
“I didn’t play for six months last year and you never know if you can be at that level again. I’m just so grateful to be here and to be healthy and play tennis again,” added the 24-year-old, who had fallen so far off the tennis radar that she has been playing at this year’s championships without a clothing sponsor.
Svitolina had become a firm crowd favourite at Wimbledon after she produced a fearless brand of tennis to send four Grand Slam champions spinning out of this year’s tournament.
But on Thursday, no matter how much the Centre Court crowd tried to lift the Ukrainian wildcard with booming shouts of “We love you Elina”, Svitolina appeared to be weighed down with the expectation of giving her war-ravaged country “a little bit of happiness” and froze on the biggest stage in tennis.—AFP
