Just when you least expect it, Elina Svitolina puts months of injury struggles and disappointing results behind her to march into the first Grand Slam semi-final of her career - on grass, of all surfaces.
The first Ukrainian woman to achieve this feat, Svitolina was not on many people’s title favourites’ list prior to Wimbledon. But it’s usually when you’re just about to discard her chances that she becomes the most dangerous. Her run to the WTA Finals titles last October in Singapore is testament to that.
Svitolina, renowned for her grit and never-say-die attitude on the court, had mixed results in the second half of 2018 and felt heavily scrutinised because of her significant weight loss and oscillating form.
Among the eight-player field at the WTA’s season finale, she was considered one of the least likely to lift the trophy. She ended up winning the tournament, going undefeated in round-robin matches before blasting through the knockouts.
“I think I have nothing to prove anymore to anyone,” Svitolina said after triumphing in Singapore. “Yeah, that's definitely a good statement for myself.”
Coming into Wimbledon this year, Svitolina had won just one match in her last six events. The 24-year-old was battling a knee injury since she reached the Indian Wells semi-finals in March and it’s only now that she’s started to feel fit and pain-free.
“It helps being under the radar a little bit. She’s managed to get through the draw without so much attention,” Svitolina’s coach, Andrew Bettles, told wimbledon.com.
“Where maybe, in the past, every match she won there was more and more attention on her because before the French so many times, before the US, before Aussie, she’s won big tournaments. So maybe this time it wasn’t. But I think it’s more kind of she’s fit and healthy again.
“And when she’s fit, she’s one of the best in the world.”
Svitolina was 0-4 in Grand Slam quarter-finals before she finally ended that losing streak by defeating Karolina Muchova in the last-eight on Tuesday. The former world No.3 had that quarter-final hoodoo hanging over her head over the past few years, but Bettles says they always kept faith she would eventually break through.
“I think look, she’s so good, that in the end she was going to make a semi,” says the Brit, who started off as her hitting partner, then second coach, before eventually getting promoted to head coach at the end of last season.
“You keep putting yourself in that position, at some point, you’re going to make a semi, she’s too good not to.
“Yesterday she really seized the moment and when her opponent was playing really good tennis in the beginning, she dug in and stuck with it and in the end it felt like, ‘Great, she did it, but there’s still more to come’.”
Grass may not have been the surface many expected to be the site of Svitolina’s maiden Grand Slam semi-final appearance. Wimbledon has historically been her weakest major, results-wise, but she was runner-up to Eugenie Bouchard in the girls’ event at the All England Club in 2012.
“Yes [it’s a little bit surprising], but I’ve always thought she has the tools to be really good on grass,” explains Bettles. “There’s no reason why she shouldn’t have done better on grass before. It is playing pretty slow as well. So it’s not like it’s a really, really quick surface compared to somewhere like Australia, which I think is pretty quick. She’s good on everything, doesn’t matter what surface.”
Svitolina takes a 4-3 head-to-head lead into her semi-final match with Simona Halep on Thursday. They’ve been two of the strongest returners among the remaining players in the draw, with Halep winning 51 per cent of her return games, and Svitolina close behind with a 45 per cent success rate.
“I think they’ve been pretty even in the past. They’ve had some real tough matches. They’ve played each other a lot so it’s nice to know your opponent. She knows what to expect. It’ll come down to a few key moments,” says Bettles.
Svitolina was two points away from losing in the second round before her opponent Margarita Gasparyan had to retire with severe cramps two sets in. That victory gave the Ukrainian No.8 seed a decent boost and she showcased her signature fighting spirit in each round since.
“I guess once you’ve tasted being that close to defeat, you’re playing a little bit freer, you’ve felt the big moments,” says Bettles. “But at the same time, everyone is talking about that it was quite lucky, whatever, but in the end, she won. Her opponent pulled out but it wasn’t like a freak injury, it was cramps, it was kind of exhaustion, that’s part of tennis as well. How many times do you see the top players win because they’re just physically fitter?”
Now, ready to make further history for Ukraine, and with the semi-final monkey off her back, Svitolina is keen to treat this opportunity ahead of her as just a regular match.
“I think is just another chance to play well," she said. "I don't take it as a huge opportunity. It's just another match. Don't want to put the pressure that it's a semi-final. Simona is a great opponent to play the semi-final. She's a very tough opponent. I have to bring my best game to win the match. It's going to be tough, tough, tough match. Hopefully I can play well,” she says.
