The Polish six-time grand slam champion’s fourth-round exit is her joint-worst performance at Roland Garros – she was last knocked out at this stage in 2019, when she made her senior tournament debut.
Świątek’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 Djoković and defending women’s champion Coco Gauff all went out in the last three days.
Poland’s hopes now lie with 114th-ranked outsider Maja Chwalińska, whose will hope to extend her magical run in the Women’s Singles in her fourth-round clash with France’s Diane Parry on Monday.
How Świątek was eliminated
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Oliynykova (L) lost in straight sets on Saturday to Russia's Diana Shnaider (R) on Saturday. (Getty Images)
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There was little to separate Świątek and her Ukrainian rival 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 of Roland Garros.
It leaves world number one Aryna Sabalenka as favorite 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.’”
