The
Ukrainian representatives in the women's singles main draw have shown an
outstanding performance for their country, with three players reaching the third
round at All England Club for the first time in history.
Tennis
legend Chris Evert highlighted the remarkable achievement of Elina Svitolina,
Marta Kostyuk, and Lesia Tsurenko in surpassing the first two matches of the
main draw, placing all three among the top 32 players in the third Grand Slam
of the year.
“For the
first time we have three 🇺🇦 players in the 3R of Wimbledon in
the women's singles draw: Marta Kostyuk, Elina Svitolina, Lesia Tsurenko (*already
in the 4R).”
“Strength
and beauty. We’re with you!" wrote Evert
The Journey
of the Ukrainian Players
Kostyuk
caused a surprise by defeating two opponents who were considered strong
favorites against her. She faced the 8th seed Maria Sakkari and former world
No. 2 Paula Badosa before meeting American Madison Keys, who defeated her in
the third round in straight sets.
Going even
further in the tournament was her compatriot Tsurenko, who reached the fourth
round of Wimbledon, matching her achievement at the French Open a month ago.
However, she was defeated by the 4th seed Jessica Pegula in straight sets.
Nevertheless, this is the best result for the 34-year-old player in her
Wimbledon appearances.
The only
player still in the competition is Elina Svitolina, who has had a dream
comeback on the tour. In the past 6 weeks, she won the Strasbourg Open, reached
the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, and is now among the final 8 at Wimbledon.
Former
world No. 3 entered the tournament as a wildcard and defeated Venus Williams,
Elis Mertens, Sofia Kenin, and Victoria Azarenka. The match against Azarenka
was an incredible battle that was decided in a 10-point tie-break in the third
set. The 28-year-old Svitolina will face world No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Tuesday,
who overcame two match points against Belinda Bencic.