Iga Swiatek admits her “mistakes were so huge” against Jelena Ostapenko and confesses she doesn’t even have a clear answer on why certain parts of her game abruptly stopped working. Swiatek, seeded at No 1, suffered a shock defeat to Ostapenko in the US Open round-of-16 as the Latvian ousted the defending champion 3-6 6-3 6-1.
“My mistakes were so huge, I had no idea why suddenly I couldn’t return. I’m a good returner. I was focusing on the same things as in the first set, and the same things overall, when my game is working. I don’t know. I need to watch.
Maybe this will give me some answers,” Swiatek said, via Tennis Now.
Iga: "I'm just surprised that my level changed so drastically because usually when I play bad, I play bad at the beginning, then I kind of catch up or just problem solve. This time it was totally the opposite."
— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) September 4, 2023
Swiatek ‘surprised’ how her level drastically changed against Ostapenko
“I’m just surprised that my level changed so drastically because usually when I play bad, I play bad at the beginning, then I kind of catch up or just problem solve.
This time it was totally the opposite,” Swiatek said.
The match started with Ostapenko breaking Swiatek in the very first game of the match. But Swiatek quickly bounced back as she broke Ostapenko in the second and sixth games to overturn an early deficit and win the first set.
After losing the first set, Ostapenko started the second set with an early break and a 3-0 lead. Swiatek got the break back in the seventh game but Ostapenko broke the Pole again in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead. In the ninth game, Ostapenko saved a break point before converting her first set point to send the match into a decider.
After winning the second set, Ostapenko started the third set with three consecutive breaks and a 5-0 lead. In the sixth game, Ostapenko had a chance to serve out a bagel but Swiatek got one break back. However, it didn’t change much as Ostapenko broke Swiatek again in the seventh game when the Pole was serving to stay in the match.
