Jelena Ostapenko stuns Iga Swiatek to end world No. 1’s US Open title defence, will play Coco Gauff in quarters

Jelena Ostapenko fought back from a set down to beat world No. 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek 3-6 6-3 6-1 to progress to the quarter-final stage of the US Open.

The Latvian No. 20 seed will now face USA’s Coco Gauff for a spot in the semi-finals.

Swiatek’s rival Aryna Sabalenka will rise to world No. 1 for the first time in her career after the US Open concludes and the new WTA rankings are released on September 11.

“I always expect a tough battle against Iga,” Ostapenko said afterwards.

“She’s won many Slams and she plays very consistently. I just went on court and I had to play aggressive because that’s what she doesn’t really like. In the third set, I stepped more in the court and I was serving better.

“I was just thinking that I have to play until the very last point, until we shook hands,” she added.

“I didn’t really give her many chances.”

Ostapenko hit 31 winners to Swiatek’s 18, and, crucially, 20 unforced errors to her opponent’s 18 in a typically aggressive performance.

The 2017 French Open winner Ostapenko came into the match holding a 3-0 record in their head-to-head, having beaten Swiatek in Birmingham in 2019, Indian Wells in 2021 and Dubai in 2022.

Swiatek was yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows in 2023 – handing out bagels in two of her prior three matches on her way to the fourth round – but was broken in the first game of the match.

The four-time Grand Slam winner rallied, though, coming out on top in many of the baseline exchanges to secure two breaks of her own – in the second and sixth game of the set before sealing the set on her first opportunity.

In her first three matches of the tournament Ostapenko threw down 29 double faults, but on Ashe on Sunday night, she produced just three. Swiatek, meanwhile, was struggling on serve.

A more consistent serve, coupled with Ostapenko’s customary big-hitting had Swiatek on the racks. She raced into a three-game lead in the second set, and although Swiatek brought the set back on serve in the seventh game of the set, the change in momentum was only fleeting, with Ostapenko breaking back before serving it out.

With Swiatek’s serve continuing to falter, Ostapenko had the measure of her in the third. Three consecutive breaks of serve had the defending champion on the cusp of departing the tournament courtesy of a bagel. She did manage to get on the board in the sixth game of the set but it just delayed the inevitable.

The winner of Ostapenko and Gauff will face either Sorana Cirstea or Karolina Muchova for a spot in the final.