Jelena Ostapenko still has Iga Swiatek's number, ousts defending US Open champ

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NEW YORK—Much ink was spilled about Jelena Ostapenko’s perfect head-to-head record against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek ahead of their US Open fourth-round clash on Sunday.

But with all three of the big-hitting Latvian’s previous victories coming before Swiatek became the top player in the world, could Ostapenko, the 2017 Roland Garros champion and perennial dark horse, be the one to derail her serene progress through her US Open title defense?

The answer came in the form of 31 winners and seven aces on Arthur Ashe Stadium, as the No. 20 seed stunned the top seed 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals in Flushing Meadows for the first time.

The defeat ends Swiatek’s fourth Grand Slam title defense, and also snaps her 75-week run as the WTA world No. 1. Second seed Aryna Sabalenka, who faces Daria Kasatkina in the fourth round tomorrow, is set to rise to the top of the rankings on Monday, September 11.

"I knew she's a great player and she's very, very consistent, especially last few years," Ostapenko acknowledged in her post-match press conference. "I also knew she would have all the pressure because she's obviously No. 1. I think if she lost against me today she loses the No. 1 spot.

"I was just trying to make it hard for her and to play my game and to fight until the very last point."

Coming into the last Grand Slam of the year, the 26-year-old was on few people’s radars after a lowkey performance during the North American hard-court swing. She went 1-2 through Montreal and Cincinnati, falling to the returning Jennifer Brady and reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, respectively.

But the beauty of the Ostapenko game plan is generally straightforward: Hit the ball as hard as possible, and hope to get either a clean winner or an opponent’s unforced error in return. Even when she’s misfiring, she’s hard to hit through—she struck 80 unforced errors in the second round against No. 66 Elina Avanesyan, but came up with 57 winners for a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 victory.

"It's not bad stats, comparing to 80 unforced errors and winning match!" Ostapenko joked of her 20 errors on Sunday. "I mean, I'm improving probably round by round."

With a trio of tough, three-set matches under her belt in New York, Ostapenko has indeed cut down the errors and dialed up the aggression with each round. Swiatek, by contrast, was barely tested in her run to the fourth round—her first and third-round matches ended in 6-0, 6-1 victories against No. 86 Rebecca Peterson and No. 145 Kaja Juvan, respectively, with only No. 322 Daria Saville pushing her to a 6-3, 6-4 score.

She looked set to continue in the same rhythm against Ostapenko, after navigating through the opening set by reeling off the last four of the last five games, thanks in part to the Latvian’s own errors. But despite the deficit, Ostapenko was employing her gameplan to perfection—and she was eventually rewarded with a 3-0 lead in the second set as she honed in on the Swiatek forehand.

Ostapenko had the crowd gasping with her firepower and depth of shot in the first set, as her flat groundstrokes barely flew over the net. But by the second and third sets, the crowd had hushed, seemingly stunned by the scenes they were witnessing: In the final set, Swiatek trailed 0-5 after being broken three consecutive times, and won just 11 points in total.

"I'm just surprised that my level changed so drastically because usually when I play bad, I play bad at the beginning, then I kind of catch up or just problem solve. This time it was totally the opposite," Swiatek told press after the match.

"I don't really know what happened with my game. I felt no control suddenly. I just have to watch and see 'cause, yeah, I didn't really know why I started making so many mistakes."

No. 20 seed Ostapenko will face home favorite Coco Gauff, the No. 6 seed, in the US Open quarterfinals on Tuesday.