The Junior Grand Slam tournament continues in London, and Ukrainian tennis has already gifted fans a new star. 15-year-old Polina Sklyar, for whom this Wimbledon is her first in her career, has made an incredible leap, breaking through to the semi-finals of the competition.
In the quarter-finals, the young tennis player defeated the tournament's seventh seed — "neutral" athlete Maria Makarova. The match turned into a real battle for survival, lasting three sets and ending with a score of 6:3, 6:7 (4), 6:4.
Drama in three acts
The beginning of the confrontation was extremely tough. The opponents were level, taking games from each other. The turning point came at 3:3 in the first set: Polina seized the initiative, won three games in a row, and took the first set.
The second set could have been decisive for the Ukrainian. Leading 5:5, Sklyar had a real chance to close the match on her match point. However, Makarova showed character, saved the situation, and took the game to a tiebreak, where she managed to level the set score.
The fate of the ticket to the semi-finals was decided in the third set. First, the Ukrainian took the lead with a score of 3:1, but the opponent returned to the game and leveled the score. At the end, Polina demonstrated steel nerves, pulled away from her opponent again, and took the decisive set.
Victory thanks to reliability
Interestingly, according to several statistical indicators, Maria Makarova looked stronger. She served more aces (5 against 3) and hit more winning shots — 32 winners against 24 for the Ukrainian. However, reliability on her own serve played the decisive role.
Polina Sklyar played much more carefully, committing only three double faults. At the same time, Makarova made eight service errors, which proved fatal in the tense struggle.
Historical context
This success allowed the 15-year-old Ukrainian to set a personal career record. Moreover, Sklyar has come close to the best achievements of Ukrainian tennis on the London grass courts among girls.
Throughout history, only two of our athletes have managed to win the Junior Wimbledon: Kateryna Bondarenko in 2004 and Daria Snigur in 2019. Now Polina has a chance to enter this elite list.
Polina's opponent in the semi-finals has not yet been determined. In the match for a place in the final, Chinese representative Yihan Qiu and "neutral" tennis player Anna Pushkareva will play.
Before the quarter-finals, Polina Sklyar confidently passed through the tournament draw, defeating "neutral" Kateryna Dotsenko, Alisa James from Jamaica, and her doubles partner — Romanian Maya Ilincă Burceșcu.
Ukrainian fans will be able to follow Polina Sklyar's further successes on the "Public Sport" channel, which is the official broadcaster of Wimbledon 2026 in the country.
