Elina Svitolina's 'beautiful' Iga Swiatek moment melts hearts at Wimbledon

Elina Svitolina has dedicated her stunning Wimbledon quarter-final upset of World No.1 Iga Swiatek to the people in her war-torn homeland of Ukraine. Just nine months after giving birth to her first child and three months after returning to the court, Svitolina triumphed 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 in a little under three hours to keep her fairytale run alive.

Fuelled by emotion and roared on by a raucous Centre Court crowd, Svitolina recovered from blowing 4-1 and 5-3 leads in the second set tiebreak to sweep away the reigning US and French Open champion. In a rousing post-match speech, Svitolina said the devastating war in her homeland had made her stronger, with the motivation of representing Ukraine proving a powerful factor.

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"I think war (Russia's invasion of Ukraine) made me stronger," she said. "Mentally I don't take difficult situations as like a disaster. There are worse things in life. I'm just more calm.

"I think having a child, and war, made me a different person. I look at the things a bit differently." Svitolia now faces a semi-final showdown against Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who stunned fourth seed Jessica Pegula 6-4 2-6 6-4 after coming from 1-4 down in the final set.

Wimbledon post-match scenes melt hearts

Svitolina's last-eight clash against Swiatek was played in a beautiful spirit, with the pair sharing a touching embrace at the net after the match. The lovely scenes melted the hearts of tennis fans around the world as viewers took to social media to express their love for both players.

Świątek has always maintained her support for Ukraine, sporting a ribbon on her hat in the blue and yellow colours of the war-torn nation. The Polish superstar admitted after the match that she was "rooting for" the Ukrainian to win the Wimbledon title, having also expressed that to Svitolina after the match. "I told her on the net that I hope she wins this tournament," Swiatek said.

Svitolina lives part of the year in London and has been supported by British tennis bodies, who've provided accommodation to Ukrainian players at Wimbledon. The 28-year-old is married to former French star Gael Monfils and gave birth to their daughter Skai on October 15 last year.

Elina Svitolina in shock as 'crazy' Wimbledon run goes on

The former World No.3 admitted after her upset win that she never thought such a run was possible at Wimbledon. "At the beginning of the tournament, if someone would tell me that I will be in the semi-final and beating world number one, I would just say that they're crazy," she said.

The 28-year-old said she was overwhelmed by the support from back home and proud of the impact her fairytale run has had on the people of Ukraine. "There were many videos on the internet where the kids are watching on their phones. This really makes my heart melt seeing this," Svitolina added.

The semi-final will be Svitolina's second at Wimbledon, having lost to eventual champion Simona Halep at that stage in 2019. Vondrousova has won more matches on grass at this tournament than in her entire career going into Wimbledon, having not previously gone past the second round here.

"It's amazing. I'm just loving grass now," she said. Pegula, who has now lost six grand slam quarter-finals out of six, was the fourth seeded player Vondrousova has beaten this fortnight.

The American was leading 3-1 in the third set when play was suspended so that the roof over No.1 Court could be closed with rain approaching. Pegula held serve to lead 4-1 but failed to win another game.

with agencies

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