Svitolina’s Wimbledon dream dismantled by Vondrousova

Ian Chadband | July 14, 2023

Elina Svitolina’s Wimbledon dream has been dismantled ruthlessly by unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who has powered into the final with an emphatic straight-sets victory.

The Ukrainian wild card Svitolina’s story had entranced this year’s Wimbledon, the tale of a new mother making a comeback to the sport while being an inspiring figure for her war-torn country.

But after knocking out the world No.1 in the quarter-final, the fourth grand slam winner she had beaten en route to the last four, Svitolina, carried on a wave of support on Centre Court, finally ran out of miracles in a 6-3 6-3 loss on Thursday.

World No.42 Vondrousova, who looked far less nervous and was much more aggressive than the Ukrainian on her first Centre Court appearance, dominated from the opening to become the first unseeded player since Billie Jean King in 1963 to reach the women’s final.

Fresh from defeating the world No.1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals, Svitolina struggled to find any rhythm against the 24-year-old who, with skilful use of her famed drop shot and rapier forehand, cracked 22 winners.

A French Open finalist in 2019, two surgeries for wrist injuries had played a big part in Vondrousova not reaching another grand slam quarter-final in her 11 subsequent starts, but here she was back to her striking best, even though prior to this year she had only ever won one match at Wimbledon. 

“I cannot believe it, I’m just very happy,” said Vondrousova. “Elina’s such a fighter and such a great person, it was a very tough match. 

“I was crazy nervous, nervous the whole match, I was leading 4-0 in the second set and she broke me twice, so I just had to stay focussed and fight for every point.”

Svitolina never gave up right to the end, pulling back to 4-3 from four down in the second stanza before Vondrousova regrouped to seal the win in 75 minutes.

In the final, she’ll play either last year’s finalist Ons Jabeur, of Tunisia, or Belarusian world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka, who were meeting later on Centre Court.