When Iga Swiatek, the No. 1 girls’s participant on this planet, took the primary set in opposition to Jelena Ostapenko on Sunday night time, it appeared like enterprise as standard.
Swiatek, a four-time Grand Slam champion at 22, in any case, was the reigning U.S. Open champion, and going into her match in opposition to Ostapenko, she had not dropped a set at this event.
However whereas Swiatek is usually in a position to cruise by way of matches, Ostapenko has been a little bit of a thorn in her aspect. Ostapenko has been undefeated in opposition to Swiatek, and prolonged that to 4 wins with a victory on Sunday night time, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Within the second set, the match shifted. Ostapenko started to take management. When Ostapenko evened issues up at a set apiece, Swiatek gave the impression to be out of her consolation zone.
As she struggled, Swiatek seemed up at her field, showing to ask for some type of recommendation to take care of Ostapenko’s surge. Her coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, didn’t appear to have a solution for her, and Swiatek sarcastically clapped towards her field, as if to convey thanks for nothing.
All through the third set, Ostapenko was unrelenting. “I needed to be aggressive as a result of that’s what she doesn’t actually like,” Ostapenko mentioned in an on-court interview after the match. “I used to be simply combating till the final level.”
Ostapenko will now face Coco Gauff, the American seeded No. 6, in a quarterfinal on Tuesday. Gauff additionally lately found out defeat Swiatek after beating her within the semifinals of the Western and Southern Open in Ohio final month.
Ostapenko and Gauff have confronted one another twice, most lately on the Australian Open, the place Ostapenko defeated Gauff in straight units within the spherical of 16. Gauff gained their earlier match in 2019.
“It was a troublesome match,” Ostapenko mentioned about her Australian Open match in opposition to Gauff earlier this yr. “After all, it’s going be one other robust match. I don’t count on any straightforward matches right here in a Grand Slam, so I’m prepared for an additional battle.”
However now, with out Swiatek in the way in which, the U.S. Open girls’s singles draw opens up way more extensively. Immediately, the trail to the ultimate has develop into simpler for Ostapenko, Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur and Aryna Sabalenka.
Gauff is prepared for Ostapenko, whom she described on Sunday as a tough hitter forward of Ostapenko’s victory.
“With Jelena, she’s a striker, ball-striker. I misplaced to her in Australian Open this yr. She’s sizzling or chilly, to be sincere,” Gauff mentioned.
The winner of Ostapenko and Gauff will tackle the winner of a quarterfinal match between Sorana Cirstea and Karolina Muchova within the semifinals. Cirstea, of Romania, reached the quarterfinals after upsetting Belinda Bencic, the fifteenth seed, on Sunday. Muchova, a finalist at this yr’s French Open, made it to the quarterfinals having solely dropped one set in 4 matches.
For now, Ostapenko is concentrated on Gauff, whom she expects to pose a troublesome problem.
“I’ll attempt to deal with myself and luxuriate in it,” Ostapenko mentioned. “It’s nice to be in quarterfinals, particularly right here in New York.”