Marta Kostyuk Shocks Iga Swiatek, French Open All Set For First-Time Women's Champion
Marta Kostyuk Shocks Iga Swiatek, French Open All Set For First-Time Women's Champion Published By, Last Updated: May 31, 2026, 17:43 IST Marta Kostyuk stuns
Marta Kostyuk Shocks Iga Swiatek, French Open All Set For First-Time Women's Champion Published By, Last Updated: May 31, 2026, 17:43 IST Marta Kostyuk stuns Iga Swiatek at Roland-Garros, stays undefeated on clay and leads a wide open French Open as a first-time women champion is guaranteed. Rapid Read Iga Swiatek lost in straight sets to Marta Kostyuk (Picture credit: AP) There will be a first-time women’s champion at Roland-Garros this year and the odds are stacked in Marta Kostyuk’s favour. Unbeaten this season on clay, the 15th-seeded Ukrainian reached the quarterfinals at the French Open for the first time on Sunday, May 31, by taking out four-time champion Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1 and spoiling her birthday. None of the players still in the draw have yet lifted the trophy in Paris, following Coco Gauff’s elimination on Saturday and Swiatek’s exit. It is the same in the men’s draw, after the losses of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic and with Carlos Alcaraz absent due to injury. Kostyuk had lost her three previous matches against Swiatek and had never taken a set from the former top-ranked player, who turned 25 on Sunday. “I’m still in shock. To beat such an unbelievable player, who won four times here," she said.
Kostyuk has been the best player of the clay-court season. She defended extremely well, chasing Swiatek’s shots all over the court, and also produced some stunning groundstroke winners, while her own mistakes also undid her rival. An intense baseline battle unfolded from the outset, and Swiatek earned the first break when she overwhelmed Kostyuk after a long rally with a backhand winner. Kostyuk broke back immediately, though, only to drop her serve again and hand Swiatek a 5-4 lead. The Polish player showed signs of nerves as she double-faulted, shanked a forehand wide and then missed a volley at the net, permitting Kostyuk to level at 5-all. Swiatek smacked two more double faults in the 12th game and the 15th-seeded Ukrainian sealed the set with a backhand passing shot. Swiatek then briefly left the court. Meanwhile, Kostyuk kept herself warm by stretching and hopping beside her chair, then received some applause as she did a few dance moves to the music playing in the stadium. Following a first week marked by a suffocating heatwave, relief finally arrived in Paris on Sunday, with temperatures dropping to 21 degrees C (70 F) around midday. When play resumed, Swiatek broke, but yet another double fault, coupled with more unforced errors, brought her opponent back to 1-all.
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