In what has been a tournament full of chaos so far, the French Open delivered another upset entering the second week as four-time champion Iga Swiatek crashed out of the tournament in a one-sided 7-5 6-1 defeat to Marta Kostyuk.
Playing on her favorite court, the No. 3 seed simply had no answers as, for the first time since 2019, she will not be among the final eight in Paris.
Marta Kostyuk def. Iga Swiatek 7-5 6-1
How the Match Unfolded
Although the final score was lopsided, it was Swiatek who started the match strongly, generating a break point in her very first return game. While she was unable to convert that opportunity, she became the first player to break serve, doing so in the eighth game of the opening set. However, that was about all the success the Pole would enjoy in the match.
From that point onward, Swiatek won just two of the next 12 games played. An uncharacteristically loose service game handed Kostyuk an immediate break back, and although Swiatek soon earned an opportunity to serve out the set, she failed to capitalize.
Instead, she was broken again while serving at 5-6, handing Kostyuk the opening set and all the momentum heading into the second. What followed was one of the poorest clay-court sets of Swiatek’s career. Staying aggressive from the baseline, Kostyuk completely overwhelmed her opponent. The Ukrainian raced through the second set as Swiatek failed to hold serve even once, winning just 38% of points behind her first serve.
A Concerning Trend for Swiatek
The loss marks a second consecutive season in which Swiatek has failed to win a title on her favorite clay surface, something that would have seemed unimaginable a few years ago. It also continues a concerning trend of regression for the Pole. Despite winning Wimbledon last year, her overall level has steadily declined over the past two seasons.
She has undergone two coaching changes during that period as well, with the once ultra-stable player now navigating one of the most challenging stretches of her career, with her now even out of the Top 10 in the live WTA ranking race.
Biggest Win of Kostyuk’s Career
As for Kostyuk, regardless of Swiatek’s recent struggles, this remains one of the biggest victories of her career.
The Ukrainian becomes just the fourth player ever to defeat Swiatek at the French Open and reaches the French Open quarterfinals for the first time. Entering the tournament, Kostyuk had won just four of her previous 10 matches on the Parisian clay, making this run all the more remarkable.
Now carrying significant confidence and momentum, she finds herself just three victories away from an unlikely Slam title, which, given all that has happened so far this year at the French Open, would not come entirely as a shock. She next faces Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
