Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk stuns Poland's Iga Świątek at Roland Garros

Major surprises continue at the second Grand Slam tournament of the season. Four-time former Roland Garros champion Iga Świątek has been eliminated from the French Open in the round of 16.

The third seed, who celebrated her 25th birthday on the day of the match, was defeated in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1, by 15th-seeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, CE Report quotes STA.

The 23-year-old Kostyuk was not considered the favorite, but she arrived in Paris in outstanding form. Before Roland Garros, she won the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid, the biggest title of her career to date. She now has a chance to surpass that achievement. Kostyuk has reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first time. In 2024, she also reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, where she was eliminated by American Coco Gauff.

In the fourth round, Kostyuk achieved one of the biggest wins of her career by defeating the former world No. 1 and six-time Grand Slam champion Świątek. The 25-year-old Pole remains on four Roland Garros titles, having won the tournament in 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Świątek’s exit extends the list of top seeds who have suffered early departures from this year’s most prestigious clay-court event. The list includes Serbian star Novak Djokovic, whose bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title was ended by Brazilian teenager João Fonseca; world No. 1 Jannik Sinner; defending women’s champion Coco Gauff; and former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev.

Kostyuk has never reached a Grand Slam singles semifinal, but the Ukrainian remains unbeaten on clay this season, extending her winning streak on the surface to 16 matches.

“I’m still in shock,” Kostyuk said during her on-court interview at the Philippe Chatrier court.

In the quarterfinals, she will face either fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina or Swiss player Belinda Bencic.

“To beat such an incredible player who has won here four times — I had lost to her three times before and had never even taken a set from her — I still can’t believe it,” Kostyuk said. “The most important thing I did was simply try to enjoy the moment. I woke up this morning and thought about what an amazing day awaited me, playing on Chatrier against Iga.”

Świątek changed coaches this spring in an effort to halt her decline in form, bringing in former coach of Rafael Nadal and Emma Raducanu, Francisco Roig. However, her struggles have continued, and this marks her first defeat on the Paris clay since her debut at Roland Garros in 2019.

Kostyuk began the tournament in tears after revealing that her family home in Kyiv narrowly escaped destruction from a Russian missile strike.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals was Romanian player Sorana Cîrstea, who defeated China’s Wang Xiyu 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Photo: Facebook/RolandGarros