World No. 6 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine -- the highest-ranked player left in the Tokyo Olympic Games draw after Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka made early exits -- overcame Camila Giorgi of Italy, 6-4, 6-4, to book a semifinal spot on Wednesday and guarantee herself an opportunity to play for a medal.
Elina, seeded fourth at the Games, told the Olympic channel after winning her match that, "I know that for Ukraine, [the Olympics] is a really big thing. I value the Olympics as a Grand Slam, and I tried to prepare to bring my best tennis. Here I am in the semifinal, and I can get a chance to get a medal. It's very special for me, but I try to take one match at a time." [Follow LIVE Coverage of 2020 Tokyo Olympics]
In the semifinals, Elina will face Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic. The world No.42 moved past 29th-ranked Paula Badosa when the Spaniard retired after Marketa won the first set 6-3.
No.9 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland also booked a spot in the semifinals, as she outlasted No.13 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of ROC, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 in their quarterfinal clash.
Elina had notched one of the best wins of her career at the previous Olympics, when she defeated defending gold medallist Serena Williams at 2016 Rio en route to a quarterfinal finish. Elina is now one round further in Tokyo after her hour-and-a-half victory over 61st-ranked Camila.
Elina converted four of her 11 break points to stop the power-hitting Camila, who had defeated No.5 seed and Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova of the Czeck Republic in the Round of 16.
"It was a really good match today, I think one of the better ones I've played here," said Elina, who needed three sets in each of her first three wins this week. "Definitely helps me for my next match."
