By Pritha Sarkar
LONDON (Reuters) – There is a reason why Elina Svitolina has been an unstoppable force at Wimbledon this year.
“I don’t have time to lose anymore,” the Ukrainian wildcard said on Tuesday after toppling world number one Iga Swiatek to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for a second time in four years.
Now aged 28 and trying to work her way back to the top after giving birth to daughter Skai last October, former world number three Svitolina has been playing a fearless brand of tennis that has taken all of her Wimbledon opponents by surprise.
So much so that she has taken down four Grand Slam champions in the shape of Venus Williams (first round), Sofia Kenin (third round), Victoria Azarenka (fourth round) and now top seed Swiatek at this year’s grasscourt major.
So what exactly has changed for Svitolina, whose best showing had been two semi-finals in 36 Grand Slam appearances before she went off on maternity break last year?
“I think war made me stronger and also made me mentally stronger,” she said referring to her homeland being invaded by Russia in what Moscow calls a ‘special military operation’.
“Mentally I don’t count difficult situations (on court) as a disaster. There are worse things in life. I’m just more calm.
“Because I just started to play again … I have this huge motivation, to come back to the top. I think having a child, and the war, made me a different person. I look at things a bit differently.”
That approach has paid dividends since she returned to the tour in April. She won her first title in almost two years in Strasbourg, donating her prize money to the humanitarian aid for Ukrainian children, then made it through to the last eight at Roland Garros and has now gone one better at Wimbledon.
Svitolina credits her rich run of form to the fact that she realises time is her worst enemy.
“Right now I just say to myself I think it’s less years that I have in front than behind me. I have to go for it. I don’t know how many years I will be playing more,” said Svitolina, who must beat Czech Marketa Vondrousova to reach a first slam final.
“You practice for these moments, for these big moments. Like today I was walking through the path where you go to the Centre Court, you see so much history. I told myself, ‘Go out there, give your best, go for it’.”
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Ken Ferris)
