“I’m going to have a beer!” Wild card Svitolina ready to celebrate after beating Swiatek to reach Wimbledon semi-finals

Elina Svitolina is back in a Grand Slam semi-final, and she has done it by beating the dominant world No 1

Chryslene Caillaud/Panoramic

July 11, 2023

Elina Svitolina will have to put off her intentions of going to Harry Styles’s concert for just a little bit longer.

Instead, her celebrations now that she has reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for a second time are going to be rather more muted.

“I’m going to have a beer, probably!” the Ukrainian smiled after beating world No 1 Iga Swiatek, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2.

She mastered any wobbles she felt in the second set when she allowed a 4-1 lead in the tiebreak to drop, and came out firing in the decider.

She has now beaten four Grand Slam champions en route to the last four: Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka and now Swiatek.

Svitolina: It’s an unbelievable feeling

“I don’t know what is happening right now in my head,” she said. “I’m really happy I got this chance to play here again, playing this great match in a great atmosphere – it was a really unbelievable feeling for me.”

Svitolina and Swiatek had played only once before, in Rome, with the Pole winning in straight sets.

“Iga is not only a great champion, she is an unbelievable person,” added Svitolina, thanking the world No 1 for her support of Ukraine since the Russian invasion. “It is not easy to play someone with whom you share a lot of good moments.”

Svitolina now equals her best-ever result at a Slam – having reached the semi-finals of both the US Open and Wimbledon back in 2019.