Elina Svitolina’s magical Wimbledon run ended as Ukrainian suffers emphatic loss

Marketa Vondrousova became the first unseeded player to reach the women’s final for 60 years after ending Elina Svitolina’s heartwarming Wimbledon run.

The tattooed Czech referred to Svitolina as a superwoman ahead of the Centre Court showdown but she turned out to be the Ukrainian mum’s kryptonite as she dominated their semifinal to win 6-3, 6-3. The Wimbledon crowd, who have taken to her during these championships, desperately wanted the dream run to continue but it wasn’t to be.

Despite a spirited second set rally, Vondrousova saw her off in 75 minutes to set up a clash with either Ons Jabeur or Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday. Svitolina has harnessed a dual force during this Wimbledon as a mother who gave birth to daughter Skai just nine months ago and as a de facto ambassador for war-torn Ukraine.

However the presence of the real Ukrainian ambassador, Vadym Prystaiko, in an eclectic Royal Box ensemble which also featured Dina Asher-Smith and Tim Rice, added an extra weight she could have done without.

Svitolina was a semifinalist at Wimbledon four years ago but back then she was just playing for herself, not her embattled country. She was well under par in the opening set, broken three times by Vondrousova.

The left hander was impressive with her clean ground strokes and deft drop shots but Svitolina was tight and erratic. Vondrousova broke to love in the fifth game with a lovely forehand pass and although Svitolina struck back immediately the Czech broke again to 15 in the next game.

When Svitolina pushed a regulation forehand wide in her next service game the set was gone. She was under pressure immediately in the second set and after an incredible forehand pass on the run from Vondrousova, the Czech broke again to go into a 2-0 lead.

As the errors from Svitolina piled up the lead was doubled. At 40-0 and 40-0 on the Vondrousova serve it looked all over but with the game all but up Svitolina suddenly came to life. To huge cheers she cast aside her shackles to break Vondrousova twice in succession and cut the deficit to 4-3.

There was to be no fairytale though as Vondrousova broke her again and closed the match out. The 24-year-old, who had never previously gone beyond the second round at Wimbledon, is into the final.