Consider Elina Svitolina well and truly back.

The former World No.3 upset World No.1 Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2 Tuesday on Centre Court at Wimbledon to move into her third career Grand Slam semifinal. 

The 2-hour, 50-minute triumph was Svitolina's seventh career win against a World No.1 and her first since she beat the then top-ranked Simona Halep to win the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome in 2018. It was also her fourth win over a major champion this fortnight, as she also defeated Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin and Victoria Azarenka. 

Svitolina is the third player in the Open Era to defeat four former major champions in a single Grand Slam tournament after Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open and Justine Henin at Roland Garros in 2005. They eventually both won the title.

Vondrousova holds off Pegula to reach Wimbledon semifinals

Five wins so far this fortnight puts Svitolina through to the Wimbledon semifinals for the second time in her career, having first done so four years ago in 2019. 

"It means the world to me. ... I didn't really expect that I'll be in semifinal," Svitolina said afterwards. "I want to continue going this way. Have in front of me a big challenge. But I'm really, really proud the way that I've been playing against tough opponents, Grand Slam champions, the players who knows how to win, how to play pressure moments.

"Really happy with my performance and with the way that I've been handling the situation so far."

What it means: Playing her second Grand Slam tournament since she returned to tennis in April following the October birth of her daughter, Svitolina is the third wild card to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, but the first to do so in more than a decade.

Wimbledon: Scores | Draws | Order of play

The Ukrainian joins China's Zheng Jie (2008) and Germany's Sabine Lisicki (2011) in that accomplishment. Though she was ranked No. 76 at the start of Wimbledon, thanks in part to a run to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last month, Svitolina's ranking was outside the main-draw cutoff at the Wimbledon entry deadline in May.

How the match was won: Svitolina could've finished off the win in two sets, as she came from a break down in both of the first two sets to put herself in good position for the upset. She was 5-3 down in the opener and 3-1 down in the second, and later, led 4-1 in the tiebreak before Swiatek hit four winners in the next six points to send the match the distance.

But, Svitolina rebounded quickly: She held at deuce for 1-1 to stifle Swiatek's momentum -- the first of five straight games she won to sprint ahead at the end. She never faced a break point in the final frame.

"Lots of good rallies we had. Lots of good games. Tough situations. Tough moments," Svitolina said. "The crowd was great today. Really enjoyed the match. Even though I was really disappointed with the second set, that I couldn't win in two, but Iga played unbelievable. All credits to her to winning that second set.

"But then I tried to bounce back, tried to again go again. Yeah, just found myself winning the match in the end."

Semifinal outlook: With Svitolina's win, an unseeded finalist is guaranteed out of the top half of the draw. She'll next face Czech Marketa Vondrousova, the 2019 Roland Garros finalist ranked No. 43, who upset No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula on No. 1 Court, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.  

Swiatek says she knows who she's rooting for.

"I think overall, looking at her career, having Grand Slam title would be pretty amazing for her. She's coming back after becoming a mother," she said. 

"... We like each other as people. I told her on the net that I hope she win this tournament. You know how it is in tennis: it's tough to win a Grand Slam. I know that for sure she wants it really bad. So I will be rooting for her, yeah."