Marta Kostyuk advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first time and spoiled four-time champion Iga Swiatek’s birthday with a 7-5, 6-1 victory on Sunday in Paris.
The 15th-seeded Ukrainian recorded five aces and took advantage of five double faults by the third-seeded Polish player to extend her winning streak on clay to 16 matches.
Swiatek’s departure from the French Open comes on the heels of other favorites recently bowing out — namely defending champion Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula on the women’s side and World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic on the men’s side.
“I’m still in shock. To beat such an unbelievable player, who won four times here, I’d lost (three) times to her, never taken a set off her, I still cannot believe it,” Kostyuk said of Swiatek, who turned 25 on Sunday.
“I think the most important thing I’ve been doing is really just trying to enjoy. I woke up this morning and I just thought about what an unbelievable day I have to live today to play on Chatrier against Iga.”
Kostyuk broke Swiatek on six occasions, including five times across her opponent’s final five service games. Swiatek hit just 13 winners against to 39 unforced errors.
Next up for Kostyuk is fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. The seventh-seeded Svitolina rallied to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over No. 11 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
Also Sunday, No. 18 Sorana Cirstea of Romania added another chapter to her potential storybook final season on the WTA Tour with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Chinese qualifier Xiyu Wang.
Cirstea’s previous Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance in Paris came in 2009. The 17-year gap since then represents the longest at a single major by any woman in the Open Era.
“There is no expiration date for ambition and for dreams,” said the 36-year-old Cirstea, who plans to retire at the end of the season.
“And I have so much passion for this sport. I absolutely love tennis and to be able to still play at this level, have my family, my team, the closest people watching me, it’s an absolute joy. Sometimes society puts us in certain groups because of the age, but I think in life you are free to do whatever you want and I want to play. And here I am.”
–Field Level Media
