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Elina Svitolina is longing to meet her husband Gael Monfils and their eight-month-old daugher Skai after her rousing run at Wimbledon ended on Thursday. Playing her second semifinal at SW19 in five years, the Ukrainian lost to Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets on Thursday.
Vondrousova, the 2019 Roland Garros finalist, started strongly, pocketing the first set for the loss of three games. A swift ending seemed to be in store, as the Czech left-hander led 4-0, 40-0 on serve in the second.
However, Svitolina recouped both breaks before Vondrousova clinched the last two games to become the first unseeded finalist at SW19 in the Open Era.
Svitolina had a memorable run, too, even though she fell in the semifinal at the grasscourt Major once again. Having only returned recently to action after the birth of her daughter last October, the Ukrainian is now looking forward to meeting her family.
In her press conference after the 3-6, 3-6 loss, Svitolina was asked how happy she would be to see her family again, to which she replied:
"Very happy. It will be the best moment."
Summing up her performance during the fortnight, she said:
"With the fighting spirit that I was showing, with the nerves, as well, that I dealt. Of course, not today. Today I wish I played a bit better. I wish that some games I play better. But I think the matches that I played before, they were quite good. Yeah, just good matches."
Svitolina is set to rise nearly 50 places, to No. 27, when the WTA rankings get updated on Monday. Vondrousova, meanwhile, will look to emulate Jana Novotna and Petra Kvitova as the third Czech woman to win Wimbledon.
"She played great and was really patient" - Elina Svitolina lauds Marketa Vondrousova
Since rejoining the tour in Charleston, Elina Svitolina has exceeded expectations in a big way. She won the title in Strasbourg before reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and the semifinals at Wimbledon.
However, on Thursday, Svitolina was slow off the blocks in both sets. She made a comeback in the second, but a poor service game cut it short.
Reflecting on the match, the Ukrainian said:
"I tried to fight back, but I guess I rushed little bit myself and didn't served well on that game when it was 4-3. Yeah, I just tried to fight. It was a lot of people, a semifinal, so you don't have time to just let it go. I tried to fight. Got few games back."
Crediting Vondrousova for dominating the key moments, she added:
"She played great. She was really patient today. Was playing really great points until the very end."
Vondrousova will now look to become the first ever unseeded Wimbledon champion on Saturday; She will take on either Ons Jabeur or Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
