Australian Open: Iga Swiatek, the world’s top seed, was eliminated from the Australian Open by Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, and Coco Gauff lost to a resurgent Jelena Ostapenko.
Rybakina put on a show at Rod Laver Arena, winning 6-4 6-4 to advance to a match against former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who outlasted seventh seed Coco Gauff 7-5 6-3.
The last two weeks have undoubtedly been challenging for me,” Swiatek admitted.
“I, therefore, thought today that I don’t have much to give of myself in order to fight any harder. I felt as though I had regressed in my attitude to these competitions and had perhaps pushed myself a little too far. I’ll therefore make an effort to relax a little bit more.
“I sensed the pressure, and I realised that I wanted to win more than I wanted to succeed. I believe that should serve as my starting point for my attention over the coming few weeks.”
Rybakina battled back from a 3-0 deficit against a dejected Swiatek, dropping only six points on her first serve the entire game.
The Kazakh-born Russian said: “It was a very challenging encounter. I admire Iga a lot. She is a young player, in my opinion, and she excels. I believe I provided good service today. I played exceptionally well in the crucial situations, which made all the difference.”
Although it comes as a great shock, Swiatek is not as dominant on hard courts as she is on clay, and despite her statements to the contrary, it is obvious the Pole finds it challenging to manage her expectations.
The matchup featured the only two active female Grand Slam champions, and Rybakina got things going by breaking Swiatek’s serve from a 40-0 lead after winning the French and US Opens.
On a bright, sunny day in Melbourne, Rybakina’s flatter hitting paid off and she surged ahead once more to lead 4-3 and win the first set. Swiatek, who had previously been warned for arriving late to the match, had pulled back to 2-2.
When the Pole broke Rybakina’s serve in the second game of the second set, it appeared as though she may stage a comeback, but the 22nd seed came back.
Rybakina broke and then served out the match to love to become the first player at Melbourne Park to advance to the quarterfinals. Swiatek had never quite seemed at ease and she was unable to handle the pressure in the ninth game.
Stay Tuned for tennis court, tennis live score, tennis match today, latest tennis news, Australian Open, tennis live score update, live tennis court, tennis championship, tennis live update and other tennis news follow Livematchupdates.com.
