Elena Svitolina’s remarkable Wimbledon run ends at the semi-finals as Marketa Vondrousova beats the Ukrainian in straight sets to reach her second Grand Slam final
Elena Svitolina’s hopes of securing a famous Wimbledon title for Ukraine were dashed this afternoon by yet another star to roll off the Czech production line.
Marketa Vondrousova, the elegant lefthander who has crept up on the rails this tournament, defeated her 6-3 6-3 in 75 minutes to reach her second Grand Slam final.
It was a crushing disappointment for the world number 76, who had backed herself to deliver a morale-boosting sporting triumph for her embattled nation.
Faced with an opponent who plays with a wider variety of shots than so many others, the 28 year-old made too many errors to continue a run which has almost seen her adopted as a home player.
Vondrousova, who beat Jo Konta in the 2019 French Open semi-final, was left awaiting either Aryna Sabalenka or Ons Jabeur, meeting in the second match. The prospect of a Belarus versus Ukraine championship match was thus avoided.
Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova emerged victorious from her Wimbledon semi-final
She beat Elena Svitolina (above) 6-3 6-3 in 75 minutes to reach her second Grand Slam final
Vondrousova admitted to being ‘crazy nervous’ as she described Svitolina as a ‘fighter’
‘I was crazy nervous at the start,’ said Vondrousova. ‘Elena is such a fighter and great person.’
The pair exchanged breaks to get to 3-3 but Svitolina, whose groundstrokes were finding the net too often, then conceded her serve again and the rangy Czech was able to consolidate the advantage.
Svitolina was struggling for the consistency that marked out her previous matches, and it could hardly be argued that the Czech was not worth her victory.
Her court coverage was outstanding and showed the ability to hit different types of winners from all over the court, whether dropshots or lobs.
She moved to 4-0 before suffering a major wobble as Svitolina summoned up one last fight. After getting back to 3-4 with improved penetration on her shots Svitolina’s wayward habits returned, and the one consolation was the huge ovation she got as she left the court.
Svitolina was struggling for the consistency that marked out her previous matches, and it could hardly be argued that the Czech was not worth her victory
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