(Tennis news) World number 1 Iga Swiatek was knocked out of the Australian Open by Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the fourth round. Rybakina, seeded 22nd, showed great confidence and ability to defeat Swiatek 6-4 6-4 win at Melbourne Park. Meanwhile, Coco Gauff, who had knocked out Emma Raducanu, is also out of the tournament after losing 7-5 6-3 to Jelena Ostapenko. The 18 year old was one of the favourites to secure the title but succumbed to 17th seed Latvian Ostapenko. The result from both the fixtures means that Rybakina will now take on Ostapenko in the quarter-finals.
Following Ashleigh Barty’s retirement, Iga Swiatek became the undisputed number 1 in women’s tennis, winning the French Open and US Open. She reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open last year and was aiming to become the first woman since Serena Williams to win three Grand Slam titles in a single season.
As for her fourth round opponent Rybakina, she had not been in the best form heading into the Australian Open, winning just 14 of her 24 matches and had previously spoken about the lack of recognition she has received in her career so far. Both Swiatek and Rybakina exchanged breaks early in the opening set before the Polish tennis player committed a double fault at 3-3 and her Kazakhstani opponent capitalised on the opportunity with a cross-court backhand winner.
Rybakina went on to seal the one-set advantage but Swiatek fought back at the start of the second set to take a 3-0 lead. However, the 23 year old (Rybakina) made a stunning comeback to make it 3-3 as Swiatek struggled to find an answer to her opponent’s serve. The 2022 Wimbledon winner dropped just six points on her first serve to secure victory after breaking for 5-4.
After the match, an elated Rybakina said “For sure it’s a motivation, but as I said before, every tournament I come I want to win and no matter points, no points. I love to compete, no matter where I play. For now I would say that I don’t really look at these things.”
As for Ostapenko, the 25 year old Latvian showed great aggression and power, similar to her performance during her Roland Garros win in 2017. Ostapenko hit 30 winners, breaking Gauff’s serve three times and saved seven of eight break opportunities. Speaking after the match, the Latvian said “My life changed a lot, so I needed a few years to really get used to what happened because I was really young. I always knew and believed in my game. If I play well, I can beat almost anyone. I was trying to work more on my consistency, especially in the pre-season, just to step on the court and play my game.”
Also read: Daniil Medvedev knocked out of the Australian Open by Sebastian Korda
