Defending champion Iga Swiatek failed on Sunday (September 3rd, 2023) in the round of 16 of the US Open because of her feared opponent Jelena Ostapenko. The Grand Slam tournament is also over for Caroline Wozniacki. Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, advanced confidently.
The 22-year-old Swiatek from Poland lost to Jelena Ostapenko 6: 3, 3: 6, 1: 6 late on Sunday evening (local time) and also lost the fourth duel of her career with the Latvian.
Round of 16, women right arrow
“I usually play badly at the beginning. I don’t know what happened to my game,” said Swiatek. With her exit, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka will replace the four-time Grand Slam tournament winner as the leader in the world tennis rankings after the US Open.
“I knew I had to be aggressive because she doesn’t like it,” said Ostapenko, 26. “I am really happy.” The former French Open winner reached the top eight at the Grand Slam tournament in New York for the first time and is now challenging the American crowd favorite Coco Gauff (19).
The US star ended the Grand Slam comeback of the Dane Caroline Wozniacki (33) with 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 1.
Powerful basic strokes from Ostapenko
After winning the first set, the top seeded Swiatek found it increasingly difficult to cope with Ostapenko’s aggressive game. The world rankings-21. dominated the game with her powerful groundstrokes and after a 4:3 lead in the second set, she won seven games in a row. Swiatek seemed at a loss and had to admit defeat after 1:48 hours.
Gauff wins duel of generations
In the duel of the generations, the 19-year-old home hope Gauff was a bit too strong for the 14-year-old Dane. After exactly two hours, the world number six had the better end for themselves and is now playing for their first semi-final entry in Flushing Meadows.
Wozniacki, who was by no means disappointing at Arthur Ashe Stadium, failed when trying to reach a major quarterfinal for the first time since the Australian Open in 2018. At that time she had won her only Grand Slam title.
On her comeback on the big New York stage, Wozniacki had previously defeated former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) and former Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady (USA).
Muxhova and Cirstea continue
Previously, French Open finalist Karolina Muchova was the first player to reach the quarterfinals and is in the last eight of Flushing Meadows for the first time in her career. The 27-year-old Czech prevailed with some difficulty 6:3, 5:7, 6:1 against the unseeded Chinese Wang Xinyu and gave up her first set of the tournament.
10th seed Muchova now meets Sorana Cirstea of Romania (No. 30), who beat Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic (No. 15) 6-3, 6-3. Cirstea is in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the second time ever and for the first time in 14 years. At the French Open 2009 she had no chance against Sam Stosur.
Three Americans left in the field
Novak Djokovic stays on course for men: The Grand Slam record champion is in the quarterfinals in New York for the 13th time. The 36-year-old Serb finally prevailed in the round of 16 against Borna Gojo from Croatia 6: 2, 7: 5, 6: 4 and was then extremely satisfied. “I’m glad I got through in three sets,” said Djokovic, who now meets Taylor Fritz: “He’s been an established top ten player for a few years now. It’s obviously going to be even harder and I feel ready. “
Round of 16, men right arrow
The American Fritz ended the strong run of the Swiss Dominic Stricker with 7: 6 (7: 2), 6: 4, 6: 4. In addition to Fritz, tennis fans in New York have other hopefuls in the race, for the first time since 2005 three Americans made it into the last eight. Ben Shelton won in the round of 16 against his compatriot Tommy Paul thanks to powerful serves of up to 239 km/h 6: 4, 6: 3, 4: 6, 6: 4 and is now facing another pure US duel against Frances Tiafoe. Last year’s semi-finalist prevailed against the Australian wildcard starter Rinky Hijikata 6: 4, 6: 1, 6: 4.
US tennis hope Ben Shelton stormed into the quarterfinals. The 20-year-old won in the round of 16 against his compatriot Tommy Paul thanks to service shells of up to 239 km/h 6: 4, 6: 3, 4: 6, 6: 4 and is now facing another pure US -Duel against Frances Tiafoe. Last year’s semi-finalist meets Australian wildcard starter Rinky Hijikata on Sunday.
The unseeded Shelton, still number 47 in the world, took revenge for losing to Paul at the Australian Open in January. There he had reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career, but lost in four sets. This time the world number 14 turned. Paul was still 4-1 down in the third set, but overall Shelton was much fresher.
