Australian Open Results: World No.1 Iga Swiatek SHOCKED in Melbourne by Rybakina, Coco Gauff also bites the DUST: Watch Australian OPEN HIGHLIGHTS: The reigning Wimbledon Champion Elena Rybakina has caused flutter at Australian Open. Rybakina knocked out World No.1 Swiatek in Melbourne upset. In another upset Jelena Ostapenko ousted 7th seed Coco Gauff also in straigh sets: Follow AUS OPEN Results LIVE Updates with InsideSport.IN
Coco Gauff is out of the Australian Open 😱
Jeļena Ostapenko defeats the World No. 7 en route to her first #AusOpen quarterfinal appearance 👏 pic.twitter.com/rBwRSik6Kq
— espnW (@espnW) January 22, 2023
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Australian Open Results: World No.1 Iga Swiatek SHOCKED in Melbourne by Rybakina, Coco Gauff also bites the DUST: Watch Australian OPEN HIGHLIGHTS
In a fourth-round showdown between two of last year’s Grand Slam champions, No.22 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan upset World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and a half to make her first Australian Open quarterfinal. Here are some takeaways from the 2022 Wimbledon champion’s stunning victory over the three-time major titlist:
Rybakina possesses big-match confidence: The Kazakh already proved she could power her way to a Grand Slam title with her booming serve and tidy winners at Wimbledon last year. Sunday’s match was the first meeting between reigning major champions since Ashleigh Barty beat Barbora Krejcikova in the Cincinnati quarterfinals in the summer of 2021.
Rybakina had nine previous wins over Top 10 opposition on her resume, two of those coming at Grand Slams. Before Sunday, she had never beaten a current World No.1, with two losses to then-top-ranked Ashleigh Barty in her history, but the signs were already present that it was only a matter of time.
Rybakina also had a win over Swiatek to look back on, even though it didn’t count in their official head-to-head. Swiatek had won their lone previous professional meeting in Ostrava last year, but they had squared off twice in the juniors, splitting those matches.
The first shot set Rybakina apart in the first set: Rybakina showed she had no qualms about attacking the Swiatek second serve, leading to an early 2-0 advantage. Swiatek, though, was equally as impressive winning second-return points as she pulled back level at 2-2.
But Rybakina cracked another backhand return winner to break Swiatek again for 4-3, and the Kazakh was impenetrable on serve from there, finishing the opening frame with four aces as she swiped the one-set lead. Rybakina won 79 percent of her first-service points in the first set, well ahead of Swiatek’s 63 percent success rate.
Tidier second set sealed the surprise: In the opening set, Rybakina had more unforced errors than winners, but in the second set, she cleaned up her ground game, which rose to the level of her serves and returns.
After falling behind 3-0 in the second set, Rybakina recovered and won six of the next seven games to finish off the upset. In that second set, she had 11 winners to nine unforced errors; Swiatek, on the other hand, had six winners to eight unforced errors.
