Wimbledon 2023: Elina Svitolina defeated five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in straight sets in their opening-round match on Monday. The Ukrainian, who is playing her first Wimbledon since 2021, won 6-4, 6-3 in 1 hour and 31 minutes.
Williams started the match strongly, breaking Svitolina in the first game. However, Svitolina broke back in the next game and then won the next four games to take the first set.
In the second set, Svitolina broke Williams again in the first game and then built a 5-1 lead. Williams broke back to make it 5-2, but Svitolina served out the match to win.
Svitolina was the more aggressive player throughout the match, hitting 28 winners to Williams’ 15. She also converted five of her nine break-point opportunities, while Williams converted just two of her six.
The win was a confidence boost for Svitolina, who is looking to build on her recent success. She reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in January and the quarterfinals of the French Open in June.
Williams, on the other hand, was disappointed with her performance. She had been hoping to make a deep run at Wimbledon, but she was unable to overcome the rustiness that comes with not playing a tournament in over a year.
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Despite the loss, Williams said that she was proud of her effort and that she would continue to work hard to get back to her best.
“I’m not going to give up,” she said. “I’m going to keep fighting.”
The 2023 Wimbledon Championships, the 136th edition of the tournament, will be held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom, from 3 to 16 July 2023. Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina are the defending champions in the singles tournaments. The tournament will be played on grass courts, with all main draw matches being played at the All England Club. Qualifying matches will be played at the Bank of England Sports Ground in Roehampton from 26 to 29 June 2023.