US Open 2023: Jelena Ostapenko Knocks Out Defending Champion Iga Swiatek

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New York, September 4: Jelena Ostapenko on Sunday (September 3) came from a set down to oust defending champion and world number 1 Iga Swiatek from US Open 2023 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory in the fourth round at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, USA.

The 26-year-old Latvian is now 4-0 in her career against Swiatek. From going a set down, Ostapenko fought back to send the reigning champion packing in under two hours.

After taking the first set handily, a listless Swiatek found herself down 1-4 against Ostapenko, having struck only one winner to the Latvian's 10 in the first five games of the second set.

Swiatek could not overcome the deficit thanks to Ostapenko's solid service games, and the No. 20 seed assertively tucked away the set to force a decisive third.

It was all one-way traffic in the deciding set as Ostapenko's pummeling groundstrokes and imposing serve exposed holes in the top seed's game. Ostapenko punished the four-time Grand Slam champion's serve with damaging returns to earn the win in just under two hours.

Ostapenko champion will next face No.6 Coco Gauff in her first US Open quarter-final. The two have split their two prior meetings, with Ostapenko knocking the American out of the Australian Open in January.

The defeat to Ostapenko also means World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka will overtake Swiatek and take the No.1 ranking after the US Open. Swiatek had held the top spot for 75 consecutive weeks, the third-longest first-time streak in Hologic WTA Tour history.

Sabalenka, 25, will be the 29th woman to capture the WTA World No.1 ranking, and just the eighth player to have held both the singles and doubles No.1 spots during their career, having also ascended to the top of the doubles rankings in February 2021.