Wimbledon: Svitolina upsets world No 1 Swiatek to reach semifinals

London, July 11 The former World No.3 Elina Svitolina upset World No.1 Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2 on Centre Court at Wimbledon to move into her third career Grand Slam semifinal, here on Tuesday.

The 2-hour, 50-minute triumph was Svitolina's seventh career win against a World No.1 and her first since she beat the then-top-ranked Simona Halep to win the Italian Open in Rome in 2018. It was also her fourth win over a major champion this fortnight, as she also defeated Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin and Victoria Azarenka.

Svitolina is the third player in the Open Era to defeat four former major champions in a single Grand Slam tournament after Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open and Justine Henin at Roland Garros in 2005. They eventually both won the title.

Five wins so far this fortnight puts Svitolina through to the Wimbledon semifinals for the second time in her career, having first done so four years ago in 2019.

Playing her second Grand Slam tournament since she returned to tennis in April following the birth of her daughter in October, the 28-year-old Svitolina is the third wild card to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, but the first to do so in more than a decade.

The Ukrainian joins China's Zheng Jie (2008) and Germany's Sabine Lisicki (2011) in that accomplishment. Though she was ranked No. 76 at the start of Wimbledon, thanks in part to a run to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last month, Svitolina's ranking was outside the main-draw cutoff at the Wimbledon entry deadline in May.

With Svitolina's win, an unseeded finalist is guaranteed out of the top half of the draw. She'll next face Czech Marketa Vondrousova, the 2019 Roland Garros finalist ranked No. 43, who upset No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, earlier in the day.

-- IANS

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