The Australian Open will start finals week without the top seeds on both the men’s and women’s sides after reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina knocked out world No.1 Iga Swiatek in straight sets on Sunday.
And Jelena Ostapenko upset American seventh seed Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-3 to reach her first grand slam quarter-final since 2018 and dramatically alter the top half of the women’s draw.
Swiatek, who holds the current French and US Open titles, looked like making a comeback early in the second set after taking a 3-0 lead, but the 23-year-old Rybakina held her own to level it, before pouncing at 4-4 with another run of pacey returns and a deadly accurate forehand winner. She had to make do with playing her first round out on court 13, but was then upgraded to arenas, including centre court for Sunday’s dispatching of the world No.1.Swiatek copped a time violation warning before the match had even started for taking too long between the warm-up and her first serve. Rybakina then struck early, firing off two return winners in the opening service game to gain an early break.“She was just better today, honestly,” Swiatek said.
The big-serving Rybakina said she knew she had to go on the attack from the very first ball to have a chance against the three-time grand slam singles champion. “When you play against [the] No.1 you have really nothing to lose,” she said. “Everybody wants to beat her.”
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