There’s a reason why the slice is an important part of any successful grass-court player’s arsenal, and on Day 8 at Wimbledon, Elina Svitolina and Jelena Ostapenko showed why.
Wimbledon 2024: Scores | Draws | Order of play
No.21 Svitolina needed less than an hour to advance to her third Wimbledon quarterfinal, defeating China’s Wang Xinyu 6-2, 6-1.
Early in the second set against Wang, Svitolina’s gritty counter-punching earned her the tournament’s Play of the Day. With Wang serving for 2-all, Svitolina parried Wang’s stinging approach shot before improvising an agile forehand slice winner down the line. Svitolina did not lose another game.
Watch the point below:
The Ukrainian star took the court wearing a black ribbon to honor and bring attention to the missile strike that killed over 35 civilians at a children’s hospital in Kyiv.
“I tried to be focused on my job, tried to be focused on what I can control,” Svitolina said. “Just do what I can in a way. 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 today. Of course, it brings me a lot of, let’s say, ‘joy’ in a way on this sad day.”
Jelena Ostapenko has blitzed her way through the draw at SW19, dropping just 15 games through four rounds. It’s the fewest games lost en route to the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 14 years.
How well is the Latvian striking the ball this fortnight? You know she’s feeling her shots when she comes up with this slice winner on match point:
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Source: https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4054091/hot-shot-svitolina-and-ostapenko-slicing-their-way-through-wimbledon
