The culmination of the women’s last-16 matches was tense but for Elina Svitolina there was the additional, heartbreaking burden of having to step on to court having learnt that a children’s hospital in her home country had come under missile attack that morning.
The Ukrainian was given special dispensation by the All England Club to wear a black ribbon to honour those killed in Kyiv, and after her brisk 6-2, 6-1 victory over Wang Xinyu, she wiped away the tears as she addressed the fans on No2 Court to tell them what a difficult day it was for the people of Ukraine.
She wanted to stay in her room and reflect on the tragedy but was motivated to compete to highlight the conflict that, she says, has slowly drifted out of the news bulletins.
“I feel like the news are much calmer right now about what’s really going on,” she said. “Us Ukrainians, we have our telegram channels, we have our families there who are telling us what’s happening. For the rest of the world, it’s less I think press are talking about it. When it’s not something that close to your heart, you don’t really go into these details because it’s a normal human thing to not watch the horrible things that are happening around the world.
“I’m playing, of course, such an amazing event as Wimbledon. I have to also think about how I can use that in a way for Ukrainian people. At least with my win today, it was a small light that brought a happy moment for Ukrainian people. I got so many messages today. The people are thankful for my performance, for my win.”
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Her opponent in the quarter-finals will be Elena Rybakina, the Wimbledon champion in 2022, the highest seed and the only former winner left in the women’s draw. Rybakina is a Russian-born Kazakhstani, but Svitolina will shake her hand.
“She changed her nationality, so it means she doesn’t want to represent her original country, so it works,” she said.
Last year Svitolina reached the semi-finals of the championships on a wave of goodwill, having just had her first child with Gaël Monfils, who lost in the third round here to Grigor Dimitrov, and he watched on as his wife scurried about with a business-like air, her long sleeves rolled up.
“We feel guilt that we feel happy or that we feel good,” she said. “Not only because I’m in the quarter-final of the grand-slam, but in everything. Like you go to holidays, you feel guilty because you’re not in Ukraine. Many people cannot leave the country. Many people are at the war. Many people are fighting, defending our frontlines. Yeah, I think we’ve been living with this feeling for over two years. I mean, it’s nothing new. But yes, of course, it’s not a pleasant feeling to have.”
Rybakina’s opponent on Monday, Anna Kalinskaya, was forced to retire at 6-3, 3-0 down with a wrist issue but, regardless, Rybakina was effortlessly powerful and the No4 seed will be the strong favourite to win.
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The most entertaining match of the last 16 came on No1 Court where Jelena Ostapenko, the No13 seed, defeated Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3 in aggressive, no-holds-barred style. Putintseva had knocked out Iga Swiatek, the No1 seed and world No1, in the previous round but found it impossible to outmanoeuvre the ebullient Latvian, who won the French Open in 2017 and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals the following year. Putintseva even resorted to an underarm serve, which backfired as it did not reach the other side of the net.
Ostapenko deploys a high-risk strategy but shrugged off any suggestion that she should add an element of pragmatism.
“I have the ability to hit the ball hard, so why I shouldn’t use it?” the 27-year-old said.
Ostapenko will next face Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, who defeated Danielle Collins in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. The first set between the pair was tightly contested until Collins made a few costly mistakes on her forehand which allowed her opponent to break serve. In the second set, trailing 3-1, Collins departed the court for treatment on her left thigh and Krejcikova kept warm by jogging around No1 Court draped in two towels.
This is Collins’s final season on tour. In March, the American became the lowest-ranked player to win the Miami Open, which prompted calls for her to rethink her decision to retire. Her ambition, the 30-year-old had said, was to play on Centre Court one day and this represented her last chance. She has chosen to retire to try to start a family, but as she suffers from both rheumatoid arthritis and endometriosis is aware that the conditions may make that less than straightforward.
