US OPEN: Jelena Ostapenko Ends Iga Swiatek’s Title Defence, knocks out out World No.1 to reach quarter finals 

Jelena Ostapenko continued her mastery over Iga Swiatek, ending the World No.1’s US Open title defense with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory in the fourth round.

The 26-year-old Latvian is now 4-0 in her career against Swiatek, and is the only player to have faced the Pole multiple times at tour level without taking a loss.

“She’s a great player and she’s very, very consistent, especially last few years,” Ostapenko said. “I also knew she would have all the pressure because she’s obviously No.1. I was just trying to make it hard for her and to play my game and to fight until the very last point.”

“There were some key moments in the second set,” Ostapenko said. “When I won it, especially the first game in the third set when I broke her, I felt like it’s going more my way. I started to feel my game better.

“I put her under the pressure, of course, because I was hitting quite many winners, and she didn’t like the power I was giving her because she needed some time to play.”

The victory means World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka will overtake Swiatek and ascend to the No.1 ranking after the US Open. Swiatek will have 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.