Vondroušová reaches Wimbledon semi-finals

Markéta Vondroušová has reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time in her career. She will be playing against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Czech tennis star Markéta Vondroušová beat world No. 4 Jessica Pegula from the US in the quarterfinal on Tuesday, thanks to a 6:4 turnaround in the third set. Speaking to Czech Radio after her victory, she said it felt unreal.

“It wasn’t going well, but then I turned it around, it still hasn’t completely sunk in. The match was amazing, I enjoyed it a lot, the fans were really rooting for me.”

She will next be facing Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the semi-final on Thursday. Vondroušová rates her opponent highly, but remains optimistic.

“It will be really tough to play against her – she beat (world number 1) Iga Świątek. Even in matches in the past she played really well, and now she’s even better, she’s gathering strength from her fans. I think that now she’s playing the best tennis of her life. But then maybe so am I – so we’ll see.”

In order to fully focus on her upcoming match, Vondroušová has dropped out of the women’s doubles, where she was playing with her best friend and fellow Czech, Miriam Kolodziejová. The two were due to play against the Belgian Elise Mertens and the Australian Storm Sanders on Tuesday, but Vondroušová decided not to play after her quarterfinal victory. However, she said there were no hard feelings between her and Kolodziejová.

“My ankle has been bothering me a bit – it’s nothing serious, but I decided not to risk it. Miriam is amazing, she wasn’t annoyed with me at all, she completely understands and supports me.”