Elina Svitolina became tearful as she reflected on the end of her hopes of winning the Wimbledon title for Ukraine.
Svitolina’s efforts amid war in her homeland and only nine months after giving birth to daughter Skai have been one of the stories of the tournament.
But her hopes of reaching a first grand slam final were ended in emphatic fashion by 24-year-old Czech Marketa Vondrousova, whose 6-3 6-3 victory makes her the first unseeded women’s finalist at Wimbledon since 1963.
Far more at home on clay than grass, this is Vondrousova’s first big grand slam run since she lost to Ashleigh Barty in the French Open final as a teenager in 2019.
Svitolina was desperately disappointed with her performance and struggled to keep her composure as she spoke about the support she had received from back home.
“I got a lot of messages from different people,” she said. “It’s unbelievable that they’ve been there with me all the way. Hopefully they continue.
“For sure I hope I can build on this. But right now I’m just really disappointed with the performance that I showed today. That’s what I have right now in my mind.
“Probably I will need a couple of days to really reflect on everything that happened because I was trying to be really focused, even after the win against Iga (Swiatek).”
Vadym Prystaiko, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, was in the Royal Box, with Svitolina’s run having provided cheer amid dark times for her compatriots back home.
Sergiy Stakhovsky celebrated the best moment of his career on Centre Court 10 years ago when he beat Roger Federer but that is a distant memory now as he prepares to return to the front line.
He told the Telegraph: “There’s not a person in Ukraine who isn’t following her story. She brings joy where there is despair, brings hope where there is misery. She is fulfilling a lot of things the Ukrainians need these days.”
Although it did not maintain its ban on Russian and Belarusian players, Wimbledon organisers have tried to show they are still on Ukraine’s side, welcoming 1,000 refugees to the Championships and helping Ukrainian players with training and accommodation costs.
They are also donating one pound for every fan who comes through the gates to the British Red Cross’ humanitarian work in Ukraine, with the total at £412,132 after 10 days.
Svitolina has spoken at length about the new mindset she has on her return to tennis, as a new mother and as a result of the war, with on-court defeats no longer the disaster they might once have felt.
But here she found herself perhaps the favourite against a similarly unexpected semi-finalist – this was the first time in the open era that a last-four clash here had featured two unseeded players.
The freedom with which Svitolina had progressed through her first five rounds was missing, while Vondrousova is also a player who offers a frustrating lack of rhythm.
The Czech mixes big hits from the baseline with drop shots, lobs and short angles and she wrapped up the first set in less than half an hour, breaking Svitolina’s serve three times in a row.
The fans tried to will Svitolina, who lost both her previous slam semi-finals here and at the US Open in 2019, back into the match in the second set but Vondrousova was firmly in her groove and she moved to the brink of victory at 4-0.
The Czech can be a nervous closer and there were definite signs of tension as Svitolina broke twice in succession to claw her way back to 4-3 only to play another poor game, and she looked emotional as she walked off court to a standing ovation.
The Ukrainian admitted she has been carrying a lot on her shoulders, saying: “For sure it’s a big motivation but it’s a lot of responsibility, a lot of tension. I try to balance it as much as I can.
“But sometimes it gets maybe too much. But I don’t want to take it as an excuse that I lost today. I try to take it as a motivation for me. I just hope that Ukrainian people continue supporting me. It was really amazing. And I just hope that I’m going to get another chance.”
Sabalenka defeats Collins to set up Swiatek rematch
Aryna Sabalenka defeated Danielle Collins 7-5 6-2 to set up yet another meeting with Iga Swiatek at the Italian Open.
Having defeated Collins en route to the final of the Madrid Open, which she lost to Swiatek, Sabalenka repeated the trick with a straight sets win over the American in Thursday's semi-final.
And the Belarusian's reward will be an immediate rematch with Swiatek.
The duo have met 10 times, including in Madrid earlier this month, with Swiatek winning seven times and Sabalenka claiming three victories.
This will be Sabalenka's first appearance in the Italian Open final.
She is the sixth player, along with Simona Halep (2017), Dinara Safina (2009), Serena Williams (2013), Ons Jabeur (2022), and Swiatek (2024) to have reached the final of both Madrid and Rome in the same season.
Data Debrief: Perfect record
Collins is the only player against whom Sabalenka has registered six wins without a loss in WTA events, while only against Maria Sakkari and Elise Mertens does she have more wins in her career in such events (seven each).
The final will mark the fourth meeting on clay between Swiatek and Sabalenka as world number one and two, equalling Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for the most meetings on the surface as the WTA's top-two ranked players.
Swiatek makes it back-to-back finals with Gauff win
Iga Swiatek is through to the Italian Open final for the third time after seeing off Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday.
There was little to separate the two in the opening 50 minutes as they played to 4-4 before Gauff left an opening with back-to-back double faults, and Swiatek took full advantage.
The world number one broke Gauff’s serve four times, including in the fifth game of the second set to swing the momentum firmly in her favour after one hour 48 minutes on the court.
Swiatek has now reached back-to-back WTA 1000 finals after winning the Madrid Open earlier this month and could face Aryna Sabalenka for the title once more if the Belarusian gets past Danielle Collins in the other semi-final.
Data Debrief: Unstoppable on clay
Swiatek has now won 11 consecutive matches, and registered her 10th victory over Gauff in 11 meetings between the two - she has won all four matches against the American on clay.
Since the format’s introduction in 2009, Swiatek (40 per cent, 12/30) holds the highest percentage of finals reached from WTA-1000 main draws entered. Serena Williams (36.7 per cent, 18/49) is the next best in the format's history.
Since the WTA rankings were first published in 1975, Swiatek has become only the third player to reach multiple Italian Open finals as the WTA's number one, along with Serena Williams (three) and Monica Seles (two). She will be looking for her third Italian Open title on Saturday.
Paul sees off Hurkacz in seesaw quarter-final
Tommy Paul reached the semi-final of the Italian Open after pulling through a rollercoaster clash with Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday.
The number 14 seed downed Hurkacz 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarter-final, keeping his composure during his two hours and 43 minutes on the court.
After winning the first set, Hurkacz fought back to win the second, but the American was not out of the contest yet as he clawed back from 0-2 down early in the third.
He closed out the win in a dramatic fashion, fending off six break points while letting three of his own slip, to eventually set up a semi-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas or Nicolas Jerry on Friday.
Data Debrief: Into the final four
After beating Daniil Medvedev in the previous round, Paul has now won back-to-back matches against top-10 opponents for the first time in his professional career with his victory over Hurkacz.
Paul earned his 150th tour-level win to take him through to his third Masters 1000 semi-final, as he aims to become the first American finalist in Rome since Andre Agassi in 2002.
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