Nobody would need to tell Elina Svitolina that the last Ukrainian to score a famous victory at Wimbledon is currently fighting with his country’s army.
Ten years ago Sergiy Stakhovksy caused a massive shock by defeating Roger Federer, and on Sunday night there was something even more meaningful as Court One rose to acclaim his successor.
There was a heady mix of boos overwhelmed by deafening cheers as Svitolina capped a thrilling victory with the now customary refusal of a Ukrainian to shake hands post-match, with someone from the allied nations currently attacking them.
A match freighted with wider significance ended in a dramatic 6-2 4-6 7-6 win over Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka, which sees the last Ukrainian standing into the quarter finals.
She could hardly control her emotions after the moment of victory, which had been followed by a cursory wave from the Belarusian, who knew there was no point lingering around for the traditional meeting at the net.
Elina Svitolina secured a dramatic and meaningful win over Victoria Azarenka 2-6, 6-4, 7-6
The Ukrainian secured a major upset by beating her opponent who is ranked 19th in the world
Belarusian Azarenka – previously world No 1 – was booed off court by the Wimbledon crowd
The beaten player left the court to a somewhat un-Wimbledon cacophony of booing and was clearly taken aback, making a gesture of smacking her fists together in response.
She was still fuming later: ‘I can’t control the crowd. I’m not sure that a lot of people were understanding what’s happening, there had probably been a lot of Pimm’s throughout the day,’ said Azarenka. ‘It wasn’t fair. What can I do?’
Once she had departed from the court there was a prolonged ovation that pretty much reduced Svitolina to tears for the on-court interview.
‘After giving birth I would say this is the second happiest moment in my life,’ she declared. ‘It was an extremely tough match and at 2-0 down in the second set I heard the crowd cheering for me and I almost wanted to cry. I was really struggling and I really wanted to win today.
‘I know that a lot of people are back home supporting me. I feel responsibility, as well. So if I’m going out to play this match against Russian or Belarusian, I feel of course more pressure to win – in my own way, to bring this victory, a small victory to Ukraine.
‘I already said multiple times that until Russian troops are out of Ukraine and we take back our territories, I am not going to shake hands. I had to try and fight.’
Fight she did, and in return Court One gave the kind of support usually reserved for someone like Andy Murray, or a British hopeful who finds themselves thrust on one of the bigger courts.
Svitolina was once ranked in the top five but has been rebuilding her ranking since giving birth, and will now meet world number one Iga Swiatek, listed 74 places above and a staunch supporter of her cause.
Azarenka was clearly surprised and made a gesture of smacking her fists together in response
An emotional Svitlonia was pretty much reduced to tears as she reflected after the match
Born in Odessa, and having had Kharkiv as a training base when younger, Ukraine’s finest player of either sex knows full well what her people are going through. Her grandmother is still in her hometown, and only a few months ago she was back visiting.
Ironically her result came on a good day for the Russians at Wimbledon, with the first two quarter finalists on the men’s side coming from there.
At the start it looked like that would coincide with the Ukrainian challenge disappearing as former world number one Azarenka was ruthlessly efficient in the first set.
There was the odd shout of ‘Slava Ukraini’, but it was relatively subdued until Svitolina began mounting a comeback from 0-2 down in the second. She gained the ascendancy towards the end of that set, but let slip a 3-0 lead in the decider.
The light was falling but the decibel level was rising as she comfortably held on there for a sudden death tiebreak. She roared back to 9-8 from 4-7 and forced a first match point, saved with an overhead smash.
Then Azarenka miscued an attempted dropshot to give her a serve for the match.
This time Svitolina smacked a clean ace wide of her flailing opponent, falling to the floor in celebration.
What followed was a highly unusual scene at Wimbledon, usually a stranger to outright hostility, but then this occasion and its surrounding circumstances had been no ordinary match.
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