Iga Swiatek arrived at the US Open as its reigning champion, as the winner of three of the last six Grand Slam tournaments and as the owner of the No. 1 rank for almost 1 1/2 years.
None of that mattered on Sunday night vs Jelena Ostapenkowhose powerful style disrupted Swiatek’s rhythm — and beat him every time.
Swiatek’s title defense at Flushing Meadows ended in the fourth round with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 loss to 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko in the fourth round at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The result also means that Swiatek’s stay at the top of the WTA will end next week, when the current No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka climbs to the top spot for the first time.
“The main thing is that she doesn’t like to play against big hitters. … She likes to have some time,” said the 20th-seeded Ostapenko, 26-years-old from Latvia. “When I play being fast, aggressive and strong, he’s less of a problem.”
Ostapenko amassed 31 winners to 18 for Swiatek.
More importantly for Ostapenko, she finished with just 20 unforced errors – an improvement from the 80 she had in her second-round win last week.
When a reporter discussed Sunday’s overall performance, Ostapenko smiled and said, “Not bad.”
Actually, it shouldn’t be a big surprise, based on their previous matches: Ostapenko now improves to 4-0 against Swiatek in their careers. No other player has four wins against the woman at the top of the WTA rankings since April 2022.
After a great start to the second set, which she led 4-1, Ostapenko was a little hesitant. That allowed Swiatek to recover and pull to 4-3.
But that was just a blip.
With Swiatek having trouble serving — perhaps because of all the squeaking of Ostapenko’s shoes as she moved during the toss while waiting to return — the contest quickly tilted in one direction. Ostapenko rattled off seven straight games to go up 5-0 in the third set.
Ostapenko broke at the last moment to end it, meaning she won seven of Swiatek’s 13 service games in the match.
Ostapenko’s first quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows will be against Coco Gauff, the 19-year-old American who defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 earlier on Sunday.
Ostapenko and Gauff split the two previous meetings. The most recent came in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January, and Ostapenko won that one.
“He’s a great young player,” Ostapenko said of Gauff. “Of course, it’s another tough game. I don’t expect easy matches in a Grand Slam.”
