LONDON—Even the world’s best players are not immune to crippling nerves as Iga Swiatek discovered when her Wimbledon dreams were turned to dust in a 7–5, 6–7(5), 6–2 quarter-final defeat by Ukrainian wildcard Elina Svitolina on Tuesday.
Svitolina, who returned to the tour in April after giving birth to her daughter last October, might have been facing an opponent who was riding high on a 14-match winning streak but she never stopped believing even when she was on the receiving end of some brutal shots from the four-time Grand Slam champion.
After almost three hours of nerve-jangling drama, Svitolina gave her war-ravaged homeland something to cheer about when she pulled off the biggest upset of this year’s championships….