By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Elina Svitolina just bagged the biggest upset of the 2023 Wimbledon women’s singles category.
The world no. 76 ranked female tennis player was just happy she reached the quarterfinal round of the Grand Slam tournament but she exceeded her expectations after upsetting world no. 1 ranked Iga Swiatek in three sets- 7.5, 6.7, 6.2- last July 11, 2023.
Svitolina was locked in from the get-go against the heavy tournament favorite and displayed her never-say-die spirit as early as the opening set.
The Ukrainian tennis superstar had to dig deep after trailing 3-5 in the first set. After holding her service possession to hang on, 4-5, Svitolina unleashed a momentum-clinching rally that featured three break points to hold Swiatek scoreless heading into the second frame.
From a passive baseline approach that caused her the early points in the first set, Svitolina’s change of game plan paid off dividends when she switched to a faster and more powerful flat ball forehand stance that posed tons of problems to Swiatek’s style of play.
Eager to bounce back after giving up her two-point lead, Swiatek stayed composed despite the meltdown and fought back in the following set.
Swiatek needed an extension period to equalize the match at 1-1, forcing a third and deciding set for a spot in the Wimbledon semifinals.
Just when the Polish top seed thought she already figured out Svitolina when she dominated the net area in the second set, the Ukrainian ace weathered the storm in the third and tallied several jaw-dropping forehand bombs that were too much to handle for Swiatek.
Swiatek reverted to her court-placement strategy and made Svitolina run around the grass surface but had no effect as the latter was able to out-smart the Polish star with her unexpected spin ball returns.
Only needing a point to advance to the semifinals, Svitolina kneeled in joy after Swiatek committed an unforced forehand return error, officially setting up a duel with Marketa Vondrousova in the women’s top 4.
“I don’t know what’s really happening in my head, you know. It’s really unbelievable. I’m really happy that I got this chance to play here again. It was really an unbelievable feeling for me,” said Svitolina during the post-match interview.
