Elina Svitolina has priorities far bigger than tennis but that has not stopped her from producing a fairytale run to the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
The Ukrainian wildcard stunned world number one Iga Swiatek in a 7-5 6-7 (5) 6-2 victory on Centre Court having only returned to the sport three months ago following the birth of her daughter, Skai.
Svitolina is also taking motivation from the Russian invasion of her country as she moves closer to a scarcely believable first grand-slam title.
“I think it’s mixture of everything,” she said. “I think war made me stronger and also made me, like, mentally stronger. Mentally I don’t take difficult situations as like a disaster, you know? There are worse things in life. I’m just more calm.
“I think also, because I’ve just started to play again, I have different pressures. Of course, I want to win. I have this motivation, like huge motivation, to come back to the top.
“But I think having a child, and war, made me a different person. I look at the things a bit differently.”
The 28-year-old and her compatriots pointedly refuse to shake hands with players from Russia and Belarus, which prompted boos for Belarusian Victoria Azarenka after their fourth-round match.
If she beats Marketa Vondrousova on Thursday Svitolina could face another Belarusian, second seed Aryna Sabalenka, in the final.
“It’s still very, very far from that. I already played Azarenka the day before, so yeah, I cannot say much,” she said.
“As I mentioned before, each time I play against them, it’s big motivation, big responsibility as well for me. Different motivation as well for my country.
“But right now it’s very, very far. It seems very close, but it’s very far from this. Still I have to win. They have to win. So let’s stay here right now.”
Swiatek, just as she had in her previous match against Belinda Bencic, came from a set down to draw level and seemed to have snatched the momentum.
But Svitolina dominated the final set and stood in disbelief with her hands over her mouth when Swiatek hit the net on match point.
Swiatek has been a huge supporter of the Ukrainian cause following the invasion and wears a blue and yellow ribbon in her cap.
“It was much tougher game I would say because she’s a great person, she’s a big champion,” said Svitolina. “She’s done so much, and is still doing so much for Ukraine. We really admire her in Ukraine.
“In a way when you’re playing your good buddy, it’s tough because you don’t want to see her or him losing.
“When I was away from tennis, I was really cheering for her, really happy with her results.”
The feeling is mutual, according to Swiatek.
“I think overall, looking at her career, having a grand slam title would be pretty amazing for her. She’s coming back after becoming a mother,” said the Pole, 22.
“I think, yeah, I’ll root for her, especially because we like each other as people. I told her at the net that I hope she wins this tournament.
“You know how it is in tennis. It’s tough to win a grand slam. I know that for sure she wants it really bad. So I will be rooting for her, yeah.”
Djokovic makes winning return in Italian Open
Novak Djokovic made a winning return to the ATP Tour as he overcame a tough opener in Rome with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Corentin Moutet on Friday.
The Serbian, who has not played since the semi-finals in Monte-Carlo, made a slow start, falling 1-3 behind in the first set, but recovered to take the first match.
Moutet could not regain his level, and Djokovic dropped only one set as he cruised through the second match to advance after one hour and 26 minutes.
Djokovic, a six-time champion in Rome, will take on Alejandro Tabilo in the third round after the Chilean beat Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Data Debrief: Still on top
Djokovic now has 23 wins in ATP-1000 events since turning 35. He eclipses John Isner (22) for the outright second most wins in such tournaments since the introduction of the format in 1990; only Federer, with 51, has more.
The Serbian will have the opportunity to clinch his 1100th match win in the third round as he chases his first trophy of the season.
Defending champion Rybakina withdraws from Italian Open due to illness
Defending champion Elena Rybakina has been forced to withdraw from the Italian Open due to illness.
Rybakina has enjoyed a fine start to 2024, boasting a 30-5 record and capturing three WTA titles to match Iga Swiatek for the most of any player on the tour.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion won her second WTA 1000 title in Rome last year, defeating Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko en route to the final, which she won by virtue of a walkover after taking the opening set, due to an injury to Anhelina Kalinina.
The Kazakhstani was set to open her title defence against Irina-Camelia Begu on Friday, but lucky loser Oceane Dodin took her place after she felt too unwell to play.
The world number four said: "Unfortunately I do not feel well enough to compete. I have such good memories from last year and was looking forward to defending my title.
"Rome is so special to me, and I look forward to being back next year to reclaim my title and play in front of the Italian fans."
Former US Open champion Thiem to retire from tennis this year
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem has announced he will retire from tennis at the end of the 2024 season.
Thiem memorably fought back from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev in the final of the 2020 tournament at Flushing Meadows, also reaching three other grand slam finals during his career.
Having reached a career-high ranking of third in the world in the aftermath of that US Open success, Thiem has since struggled with wrist and knee injuries, failing to progress beyond the second round of a major since the 2021 Australian Open.
The Austrian failed to reach the recent Madrid Open, going down to Thanasi Kokkinakis in qualifying on the clay, which he had previously regarded as his strongest surface.
In a video posted to Instagram on Friday, the 30-year-old said: "I have to tell you a very important, and very sad but very beautiful message. The 2024 season will be my last one, I'm going to finish my career at the end of the season.
"There are reasons behind it; first of all, my wrist is not exactly the way it should be, and the second reason is my inner feeling.
"I was thinking about this decision for a very long time, thinking about my whole journey as a tennis player, which was incredible.
"I've had success and won trophies I would never have dreamed of. It was an incredible journey that I am so thankful for, but in the end I came to the conclusion that this decision is the only right one."
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