Ukraine’s Svitolina loses at Wimbledon despite getting a big boost from the boisterous crowd

By CHRIS LEHOURITES
AP Sports Writer

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — The boisterous backing from the normally genteel crowd at Wimbledon was booming. Even raucous at times. Those hoots and howls helped motivate Elina Svitolina over the last 11 days and pushed the 28-year-old Ukrainian to the semifinals at the All England Club only three months after returning to the game following the birth of her daughter. But it ended there following a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Marketa Vondrousova. Much of the encouragement came because of her nationality. Ukraine has been fighting a war for more than a year following the Russian invasion in February 2022. Svitolina says she is “really thankful for all the people to support us in different levels.”