Defending champion and world No 1 Iga Swiatek exited the US Open in the fourth round with a 3-6, 6-3 ,6-1 defeat to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko
With her defeat, Swiatek’s first reign as No 1 ends at 75 weeks. After the US Open, Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, will top the rankings for the first time in her career. Swiatek indicated afterwards that the prospect of losing the top spot had weighed heavily on her.
The last time they faced each other, last February in Dubai, was Swiatek’s very last defeat before she embarked on her 37-match winning streak. The important question of the night was just how much Swiatek had improved those weaknesses. This tournament has already seen the very worst of Ostapenko. In her second round win against Elina Avanesyan, ranked No 66, Ostapenko struck 80 unforced errors in three sets before she somehow survived. Even as she conceded the first set here, Ostapenko knew she was not playing nearly as badly and the margins were minimal.
By the final set, Ostapenko had taken full control of the match from inside the baseline, lasering groundstrokes off both wings. She ended by breaking Swiatek’s serve to love with four destructive, point-ending forehands. Swiatek could only watch as they flew past her.
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