Iga Swiatek’s bid for a third Stuttgart Open title was dashed as she fell to a sixth consecutive defeat to her nemesis Jelena Ostapenko.
The five-time Grand Slam winner lost 3-6, 6-3, 2-6 to the world No 24 in just under two hours and 10 minutes in the quarter-finals of the WTA 500 tournament.
The world No 2 remains without a win against Ostapenko and now holds a 0-6 record against the 2017 French Open champion.
This was Swiatek‘s first defeat to Ostapenko on her favoured clay courts, with the previous four on hard courts and the first meeting on grass.
Ostapenko surged into a 4-0 lead as she made a blistering start to the match and broke Swiatek three times en route to winning the opening set in convincing fashion.
Swiatek was unable to consolidate a 3-1, break advantage in the second set, but her second break of the 27-year-old Latvian’s serve at 4-3 proved decisive as she levelled the contest.
It ended a run of five consecutive sets Swiatek had lost against Ostapenko, but that momentum was instantly lost as she swiftly fell 0-3 behind in the decider.
The 23-year-old Pole had her only chance to break back in a crucial 11-point seventh game, but Ostapenko held firm before breaking to seal another impressive win.
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Swiatek’s quarter-final exit in Stuttgart extends her title drought. The former world No 1 has not reached a final since winning the French Open in June last year.
Among WTA players who have not been ranked world No 1, Ostapenko is just the third woman to win their first six matches against a former or future world No 1.
Gabriela Sabatini and Agnieszka Radwanska are other players to accomplish this.
What did Ostapenko say after her win?
In her on-court interview, Ostapenko was asked: “No one else has beaten Iga 6 times in a row. Which statement is more correct: she hates to play you, or you like to play her?”
The Latvian replied: “I think both.”
Ostapenko followed that up with another great quote as she pointed out her own clay-court pedigree.
“She (Swiatek) is a great clay-court player as well. But you know, I won French Open. So I can say about myself the same thing (smiling).”
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