"I'm going to have a beer": Svitolina frank about next move after beating Swiatek to reach Wimbledon semi-finals

Elina Svitolina is ready to celebrate after eliminating Iga Swiatek and advancing to the semifinals of 2023 Wimbledon.

The Ukrainian player returned to the tour a few months ago after a year away from the courts. Svitolina first decided to take a break for mental health reasons, given the situation of the war in Ukraine. She later announced that she was pregnant, extending her hiatus until April of this year.

Just 8 weeks ago, she was outside the top 1000 in the WTA rankings, but a great run with the title at the Strasbourg Open and a quarterfinal appearance at the French Open helped her climb to world No. 76. Her impressive campaign at Wimbledon, especially the victory over Iga Swiatek, has secured her the world No. 27 spot, once again making her the highest-ranked Ukrainian player, surpassing Anhelina Kalinina (world No. 28).

Svitolina expressed her excitement at unexpectedly reaching the Wimbledon semifinals, a tournament she entered through a wild card.

“I’m going to have a beer, probably!” Svitolina said.

“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.”

“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,” she concluded.

Former world No. 3 Svitolina matched her best result at Wimbledon, as she reached the semifinals in 2019, falling to Romanian and eventual champion Simona Halep. This time Elina Svitolina will face Czech player Marketa Vondrousova, who stunned 4th seed Jessica Pegula in three sets.