When Iga Swiatek, the No. 1 ladies’s participant on the earth, took the primary set in opposition to Jelena Ostapenko on Sunday evening, it appeared like enterprise as regular.
Swiatek, a four-time Grand Slam champion at 22, in spite of everything, was the reigning U.S. Open champion, and going into her match in opposition to Ostapenko, she had not dropped a set at this event.
However whereas Swiatek is commonly in a position to cruise via matches, Ostapenko has been a little bit of a thorn in her aspect. Ostapenko has been undefeated in opposition to Swiatek, and prolonged that to 4 wins with a victory on Sunday evening, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Within the second set, the match shifted. Ostapenko started to take management. When Ostapenko evened issues up at a set apiece, Swiatek gave the impression to be out of her consolation zone.
As she struggled, Swiatek seemed up at her field, showing to ask for some kind of recommendation to cope with Ostapenko’s surge. Her coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, didn’t appear to have a solution for her, and Swiatek sarcastically clapped towards her field, as if to convey thanks for nothing.
All through the third set, Ostapenko was unrelenting. “I had to be aggressive because that’s what she doesn’t really like,” Ostapenko stated in an on-court interview after the match. “I was just fighting until the very last point.”
Ostapenko will now face Coco Gauff, the American seeded No. 6, in a quarterfinal on Tuesday. Gauff additionally not too long ago found out how one can defeat Swiatek after beating her within the semifinals of the Western and Southern Open in Ohio final month.
Ostapenko and Gauff have confronted one another twice, most not too long ago on the Australian Open, the place Ostapenko defeated Gauff in straight units within the spherical of 16. Gauff gained their earlier match in 2019.
“It was a tough match,” Ostapenko stated about her Australian Open match in opposition to Gauff earlier this yr. “Of course, it’s going be another tough match. I don’t expect any easy matches here in a Grand Slam, so I’m ready for another battle.”
However now, with out Swiatek in the best way, the U.S. Open ladies’s singles draw opens up way more extensively. Immediately, the trail to the ultimate has develop into simpler for Ostapenko, Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur and Aryna Sabalenka.
Gauff is prepared for Ostapenko, whom she described on Sunday as a tough hitter forward of Ostapenko’s victory.
“With Jelena, she’s a striker, ball-striker. I lost to her in Australian Open this year. She’s hot or cold, to be honest,” Gauff stated.
The winner of Ostapenko and Gauff will tackle the winner of a quarterfinal match between Sorana Cirstea and Karolina Muchova within the semifinals. Cirstea, of Romania, reached the quarterfinals after upsetting Belinda Bencic, the fifteenth seed, on Sunday. Muchova, a finalist at this yr’s French Open, made it to the quarterfinals having solely dropped one set in 4 matches.
For now, Ostapenko is concentrated on Gauff, whom she expects to pose a troublesome problem.
“I will try to focus on myself and enjoy it,” Ostapenko stated. “It’s great to be in quarterfinals, especially here in New York.”
