Ce Wimbledon 2023 a été chargé en émotions pour Elina Svitolina. Larmes de joie, après avoir battu la numéro 1 mondiale Iga Swiatek en quart de finale, mais aussi de tristesse, en conférence de presse ce jeudi après avoir perdu contre Marketa Vondrousova en demi-finale. Dépassée, l'Ukrainienne s'est logiquement incliné 6-3, 6-3. La fin du rêve pour celle qui n'était qu'invitée et qui a pu faire vibrer son pays. C'est d'ailleurs en pensant à tout ce soutien que l'Ukrainienne a craqué ce jeudi après sa défaite.
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00:00 I'm quite disappointed about the match, the performance today.
00:05 So, yeah, just a good tournament, of course, but disappointed today.
00:11 -Aldi from the Globe and Mail in Canada.
00:16 So many people watching in Ukraine this match, so many expectations there.
00:20 Such a great run for you.
00:22 Did that pressure and emotion have any factor today for you?
00:26 Did it finally sort of get to you today?
00:29 -I don't know.
00:32 Of course, I know that people support me, but it's quite expected because I'm in the semifinals.
00:40 I think it's quite normal because it's the semifinals, so quite expected.
00:54 And I had to deal with the situation maybe a bit better, but I wouldn't say that I was too nervous.
01:05 It was just, yeah, I should have found a better way to deal with Marketa's game style.
01:13 She's a very tricky opponent. She gets lots of balls back.
01:18 I'm just not very happy with the way that I dealt with the situations, with some points at the beginning as well.
01:26 She played really well and dealt with my game better today.
01:35 -Elina, Simon Camus from the Guardian.
01:38 What are you most proud of about your achievement in the last two weeks?
01:44 -With the fighting spirit that I was showing and with the nerves as well that I dealt, of course, not today.
01:53 Today, I wish I played a bit better.
01:56 I wish that some games I play better.
02:06 But I think the matches that I played before, they were quite good.
02:10 And yeah, just good matches.
02:14 -Hi, Elina. Yasmin Saeed from the Express.
02:17 Commiserations for today.
02:19 If you could go back to the day in October that you gave birth to Sky,
02:22 tell yourself then that you'd be in a World Women's semifinal already, what would you think?
02:26 -As I say, it would be tough to believe.
02:34 But right now, I'm just really upset that I couldn't go further to play in the final.
02:44 -David Waldstein, New York Times.
02:48 Can you just describe what it feels like to have this whole tournament, everyone here, showing their love for you and support?
02:57 -Yeah, it feels unbelievable, to be fair.
02:59 They supported me all the way through.
03:02 And even today when I was down, I got a lot of support.
03:06 And I'm really thankful for the crowd to support me and be there for me and for all Ukrainian people as well.
03:16 They support us quite a lot in different kind of ways.
03:27 For a lot of Ukrainians who arrived here when the war started,
03:32 so really thankful for all the people to support us in different levels.
03:40 -What message do you hope your run, your performance, making it to the semifinals, will send to people all over the world?
03:53 -To believe in yourself, in different kind of levels as well.
03:59 Because in different situations, you always need to find a way to fight for your dream.
04:09 And just continue dreaming and trying to achieve your dream.
04:17 -Lena, commiserations, from the sun.
04:21 The ambassador to Ukraine, the United Kingdom, was here, he was on court.
04:26 Had you spoken to him before the match?
04:28 Do you plan to speak to him as well after this?
04:31 -I didn't know, to be fair.
04:34 I'm leaving tonight, so I didn't have the contact with them.
04:41 But I didn't know that they were here.
04:45 And thanks to them to come to support me.
04:48 -Do you feel the strength and the weight of Ukraine behind you as you were competing during this championships?
04:53 -Yeah, for sure. Massive support.
04:56 I got a lot of messages from different people.
05:01 And it's unbelievable that they've been there with me all the way.
05:10 And hopefully they continue.
05:13 -Lena, coming back on the match, the second set, when you came back,
05:27 did you think it could be twisted?
05:31 Did you believe that in the second, when you came back, it was possible to twist?
05:36 -I tried to fight back.
05:39 But I guess I rushed a little bit myself.
05:45 And didn't serve well on that game when it was 4-3.
05:51 So, yeah, I just tried to fight.
05:55 You know, it was a lot of people.
05:57 And it's a semi-final, so you don't have time to just let it go.
06:07 So I tried to fight and got a few games back.
06:12 And I guess it was also a nervous moment for Maiketa,
06:17 because also playing semi-final is never easy to finish the match.
06:21 So I tried to fight back and just give everything out there.
06:28 Even I didn't play my best today.
06:32 So, yeah, and it didn't happen.
06:36 She played great.
06:38 She was really patient today and was playing really great points until the very end.
06:50 -Hi, Lena.
06:51 Eleanor Crips from Press Association.
06:53 Do you think you can keep this spirit with you for the rest of the season?
06:57 And what has this tournament and the French Open done in terms of your belief
07:01 that you can win a Grand Slam?
07:05 -I'm not sure I hope I can build on this.
07:08 But right now I'm just really disappointed with the performance that I showed today.
07:14 That's what I have right now in my mind.
07:17 So probably I will need a couple of days to really reflect on everything that happened.
07:26 Because, yeah, I was trying to be really focused even after the win against IGA.
07:34 I will need a couple of days to really switch off myself first from everything
07:44 and then think about what happened, what did I do right and what did I do wrong as well.
07:51 -Alan Mike Dixon with the Mail.
07:55 Obviously it wasn't just you as a Ukrainian player who did well here.
08:00 Some of your colleagues as well.
08:02 I know there's been a feeling amongst some players that perhaps the WTA
08:06 has not been sympathetic enough towards you.
08:09 Do you feel that after the results that you guys have had on the grass
08:16 things might improve a bit on that front?
08:20 -I don't know if this should be connected.
08:25 How we play should connect to how much help we receive from WTA.
08:34 -The profile perhaps has risen internationally.
08:37 -Yes, but this should not be the case.
08:39 We were four or five girls that are top 100, maybe six or seven girls that are top 200.
08:52 I don't think it should really be depending on the ranking.
08:58 As I mentioned many times, we had to relocate our families.
09:05 We are paying a lot, doing donations all the time, trying to help our country.
09:13 Why should it depend if we are a higher profile or not?
09:17 If we are a higher profile, then it should be the other way around.
09:22 We are getting a bit more paid.
09:25 It should not depend on the ranking, really.
09:31 -Hi, Alina. Andy Earing, also from the Mail.
09:34 It's obviously very sad that you're not in the final.
09:37 We don't know who else is going to be in the final.
09:39 I just wondered how bad you think it would look, symbolically,
09:42 if the Princess of Wales ends up giving the trophy to a Belarusian?
09:47 -To be fair, I didn't really think about this at all.
09:52 Right now, I'm not in a good state of mind to reply to this question.
09:59 I will not be here.
10:03 I'm just upset that I'm not playing and not taking that trophy from her.
10:12 -Liz Kirkins from the Express.
10:14 I just wanted to ask, was your grandmother or other members of your family
10:17 able to watch in Ukraine today?
10:19 Can you tell us a bit more about your foundation?
10:21 Because I understand they paid for people in Ukraine to actually be able
10:24 to watch your match, which is really special for them.
10:29 -Yes, my family was watching, and a lot of people as well in Ukraine.
10:36 I'm really happy that it was actually live in Ukraine,
10:43 because it took some years to actually make this happen for Ukrainian people.
10:53 I think it's really important for kids as well to watch tennis
10:57 and to watch other sports as well, to have something different in their life
11:02 and for them to set their dreams, to set their goals.
11:07 Like me, for example, when I was young, I was watching.
11:10 My parents were buying these matches of the great champions.
11:17 I can try to also take something from them, to learn something from them.
11:24 I was imagining myself competing in the big stadiums.
11:29 I'm really happy this finally could happen, and we are working with my foundation
11:35 to give this opportunity for Ukrainian people, for Ukrainian kids as well.
11:42 I'm happy about that.
11:45 -As sad as you may be right now, how happy will you be to get back
11:50 and see Sky and your family?
11:53 -I'm happy. It will be the best moment.
11:58 -Last chance.
12:01 -This is Mohammad Tafrom the BBC World Service.
12:05 Hi, Elena. I believe you played in the semifinal here in 2019.
12:11 How different was that semifinal from today?
12:21 -It was a completely different match.
12:26 I'm more happy with the match today than the match I played that time.
12:31 I think that time was even worse performance at that time.
12:39 I'm happy I made a small step to play a bit better today than that time.
12:47 Both times, Simona and Marqueta today played really amazing and great tennis.
12:59 It's not much I could add more.
13:04 -Last question.
13:06 -Elena, you obviously want to win for yourself and for Ukraine and everyone watching you.
13:11 How tiring and draining has that been for you over the two weeks?
13:16 -For sure, it's a big motivation.
13:19 But also, as you mentioned, it's a lot of responsibility, a lot of tension.
13:27 I try to balance it as much as I can.
13:31 Sometimes it gets maybe too much.
13:37 But I don't want to take it as an excuse that I lost today.
13:46 I try to take it as a motivation for me.
13:49 I just hope that Ukrainian people continue supporting me.
13:55 It was really amazing.
13:57 I just hope that I'm going to get another chance.