Tennis-Kostyuk sends former champion Swiatek packing in French Open last 16

By Shrivathsa Sridhar

PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) – Iga Swiatek’s 25th birthday celebrations turned sour at the French Open on Sunday as the former champion lost 7-5 6-1 to Ukrainian 15th seed Marta Kostyuk, ​her bid for a fifth title ending just when she had ‌looked to be rediscovering her form.

Swiatek’s shock defeat comes amid a chaotic spell at Roland Garros in which men’s world number one Jannik Sinner, 24-times Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic and defending women’s champion Coco Gauff all went out in the last three ‌days.

It leaves ​world number one Aryna Sabalenka as favourite to ⁠claim her first title ⁠in Paris, though Kostyuk will be one to watch as she builds the momentum that has helped her sparkle on clay this season.

“I’m still in shock,” Kostyuk said in an on-court interview.

“I feel like I’ve given ​myself more space to just create something, to challenge my opponents. I woke up in the morning and all I thought was ‘what an ⁠unbelievable day I have to live today … there’s ⁠nothing I could do other than this’.

“I try not ​to focus at all on winning and losing, because I’m not playing tennis ​to win. I’m playing tennis because I love it. I want ‌to connect to people, I want to feel this energy … make people happy and unite people.”

KOSTYUK HAD PREVIOUSLY LOST THREE TIMES TO POLE

There was little to separate the duo in the early exchanges as they twice traded breaks, ⁠before Kostyuk came up with a tight hold in the 11th game and raised her level at the end to claim the opening set with a ⁠backhand crosscourt winner.

It was ‌the first time that Kostyuk had taken a set ⁠off the third-seeded Pole after three straight defeats in ​their previous ‌meetings, and she sensed a big upset when ​she went ahead ⁠3-1 in the next set after a battling effort.

The Rouen and Madrid champion held her nerve from there to take her record on clay this season to 15-0, and book a meeting with seventh-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina or 11th-seeded Swiss Belinda Bencic in the next round.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing ​by Andrew Cawthorne)