Jelena Ostapenko ousts No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek
Jelena Ostapenko knocked top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek out of the U.S. Open with a stunning 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory late Sunday night.
Ostapenko, ranked 21st in the world and the No. 20 seed in this event, improved to 4-0 against Swiatek, making her the only player to beat Swiatek four times. Before she took the court, it was clear she felt confident against her opponent as she told ESPN she was content to let the pressure of the moment pile up upon Swiatek.
“It’s not easy to be No. 1 because everyone wants to beat you,” she said. “I’ll probably take advantage of that.”
The victory means World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka will overtake Swiatek and ascend to the No.1 ranking after the Open. Swiatek will have held the top spot for 75 consecutive weeks.
Into her first U.S. Open quarterfinal, the 2017 French Open champion will next face No. 6 Coco Gauff. The two have split their two prior meetings, with Ostapenko knocking the American out of the Australian Open in January.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
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