One of the best players in the world, Maria Sakkari, already failed at the start of the tournament. Now even the best player in the world has been eliminated.
Iga Świątek has already failed in the last 16 at the US Open. The Polish defending champion lost in three sets to Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (6:3, 3:6, 1:6). Świątek was particularly disappointing in the third set, where she was completely outclassed.
“She always plays very well against me,” she said, “But I am surprised that my level has changed so drastically. I don’t really know what happened to my game, I suddenly had no control anymore.” For Świątek, it was the fourth defeat in her fourth match against the Latvian.
For the 22-year-old Pole, however, the defeat has another consequence: she loses her first place in the world rankings. She will be replaced by Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka after 75 weeks at the top.
“As if she had never left “
For Świątek defeater Jelena Ostapenko, it’s now on to local hero Coco Gauff. The US-American won in three sets against the strong Caroline Wozniacki. The Dane won the second of the three sets, but was unable to keep up in the third. Gauff won the deciding set 6:1 after 6:3 and 3:6. Nevertheless, she was full of praise for her opponent after the match: “Caroline is back, it’s as if she had never been away,” said Gauff full of respect for the 33-year-old, who caused a sensation straight away after returning to the Grand Slam stage after more than three years of maternity leave.
The same goes for Romanian Sorana Cirstea (33), who reached a Major quarter-final for the first time in 14 years and will face Paris finalist Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic.
