Both semi-finals of the women’s singles are scheduled for Thursday at Wimbledon. The Czech Republic will also have its representative, as Markéta Vondroušová will play against Elina Svitolina. Who will make it to the finals?
Elina Svitolina had more than a year’s break from tennis due to her pregnancy. She returned to the courts this April in Charleston. It is certainly a successful return, as she managed to master the tournament in Strasbourg and played in the quarterfinals at the French Open.
The 76th player of the WTA ranking also carried her great form onto the grass surface. The 28-year-old Ukrainian will play the semifinals of Wimbledon, the most famous tennis tournament, for the second time in her life. In 2019, she was not enough for the later winner Simona Halepová.
The draw at the All England Club was not at all pleasant for Svitolina this year. In the first round, she had to deal with Venus Williams. In the second round, she met Elise Mertens, whom she defeated in sets 6:1, 1:6 and 6:1.
In the third round, she found a recipe for Sofia Keninová, whom she defeated in sets 7:6 and 6:2. In the round of 16 match against Azarenkova, things looked very bad for the Ukrainian, but in the end she was able to turn around the unfavorable situation of 2:6 and 0:2 and was happy about the progress.
In the quarterfinals, she faced the queen of the WTA rankings, Iga Swiatek. At the same time, in the duels she finished, the world number one was not enough against Aryna Sabalenkova, which is a duel older than two months.
Markéta Vondroušová can currently be found in 42nd place on the WTA rankings. For the native of Sokolov, this is the best result at Wimbledon, but she would like to play the second Grand Slam final of her career here (the first was in 2019 at the French Open).
In the first three rounds, the twenty-four-year-old tennis player from the Czech Republic did not lose a single set. That came only in the round of 16 in a duel with compatriot Maria Bouzková. But she was able to turn the game around from an unfavorable situation.
She was very close to elimination in the quarterfinals against the American Pegula. She already led 4:1 in the deciding set and even had a break point for a 5:1 lead. But she was unable to use it, which eventually turned out to be the key moment of the entire match. Vondroušová won five games in a row, thanks to which she advanced to the top four.
Both players know each other well, as this will be the sixth match between them. The Ukrainian has won three times, and given her previous performances, I expect her to increase her lead even more on Thursday. If she can build on her first serve, she should be the more dominant player in the match. Moreover, she had a harder lot here.
Source: Wimbledon, Live Sports
