(Wimbledon) Quarter-finalist at Roland-Garros and now semi-finalist at Wimbledon, Elina Svitolina brilliantly continues her dazzling return to the highest level of world tennis with her double role as flag bearer of Ukraine and sportswomen returning from maternity.

With her victory over world number one Iga Swiatek on Tuesday in the quarter-finals, Svitolina equals her best Grand Slam performance – semi-finals at Wimbledon and the United States Open in 2019 -, just over three months after her return to competition.

Still 192^e before Roland-Garros, she is already guaranteed to return to the top 30 of the WTA ranking, and will do even better if she beats the Czech Marketa Vondrousova (42^e) half Thursday. And she does not intend to stop there.

“For me, I would say a place in the top 10probably,” she replied when asked about her ranking goal.

“It may seem arrogant, but I still have very high ambitions,” added the one who had appeared between the 3^e and the 6^e world place from 2017 to 2021.

Over the matches, the 28-year-old Ukrainian has regained all the variety of her game which allows her, relying on a flawless defense, to choose her moment to go on the attack.

But if on the sporting level everything is going well for Svitolina, the doubly symbolic significance of his career gives him a very special aura.

“Additional pressure” against Russians and Belarusians

“When I get up, I always watch the news. Every time I’m not on the court, I check how my family is doing, what is the situation in Ukraine, ”she said after her victory against Venus Williams.

“People are going through horrible times in Ukraine right now and I have no excuse to complain because I have an amazing life. In many ways, it motivates me to go train and get better every day,” she added.

Her quarter-final against Belarusian Victoria Azarenka had a special flavor from this point of view.

“When I play against Russians or Belarusians, obviously I feel extra pressure to win. That’s why these victories mean so much to me. In my own way, I bring a victory, a small victory to Ukraine,” she confided.

But Azarenka having also successfully resumed the thread of her career after having had a boy, now six years old, their match had also been a message to all sportswomen wishing to reconcile family life and career.

“I really respect them a lot. It must be really hard to find the balance between having a child and playing tennis. […] I really respect that they know how to get there and that they get there just as well, ”also underlined Aryna Sabalenka, another Belarusian, on “mother-players” in general.

Monfils daddy hen

“It gives me confidence that if one day I want to be a mother, I will still have the opportunity to come back and play tennis. So thank you for all that! she added with a smile.

Svitolina is “lucky”, at Wimbledon, that the father of their daughter Skaï, the injured French tennis player Gaël Monfils, can fully assume his role as father… with a little help.

“He wants me to go home because he’s really tired,” Svitolina smiled after validating his ticket for the second week of the tournament.

” But it is okay […] He’s home with our two mothers, too. There is a whole team taking care of Skaï for the moment, ”she added.

From the top of his nine months, the London exploits of his mother leave Skai marble.

“We spoke by videoconference after the match, but she was completely distracted by an ice cream, so I was really not her priority. She’s still at an age where she doesn’t care if I win or lose,” admitted Svitolina, after her win over Swiatek.

She probably won’t mind too much if she stays a game or two longer in the English capital.