Kostyuk eliminates Swiatek in French Open shocker

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Marta Kostyuk’s stellar French Open campaign continued after she pulled off a stunning upset win over former clay-court queen Iga Swiatek, 7-5, 6-1, on May 31, 2026, at Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris, France.

Heading into the fourth-round showdown, Swiatek had Kostyuk’s number after leading their head-to-head matchup, 3-0.

The narrative then quickly flipped after the Ukrainian ace delivered when it mattered most, outmaneuvering the four-time French Open champion in dominant fashion that the majority didn’t see coming.

A couple of strict adjustments were deployed by Kostyuk’s camp, which also helped her figure Swiatek out as early as the opening set.

Kostyuk set the tone with relentless pressure on Swiatek’s second-serve possessions, neutralizing the Polish netter’s kick serve by hitting the ball on the rise while stepping inside the line.

It was reminiscent of Alex Eala and Aryna Sabalenka’s habits. Every time they saw an opportunity to score a return ace, they immediately grabbed it with decisive groundstroke power to punish the opponent’s sloppy second serves.

Kostyuk tore a page from their playbook and used it to her advantage, as she caught Swiatek off guard with powerful forehand returns that helped her withstand the six-time Grand Slam winner’s tremendous court coverage.

After a crucial break point, Kostyuk officially escaped the first-set back-and-forth with a service hold to establish a momentum-boosting 1-0 lead.

Just when the former champion thought she could recover from a tightly contested first-set loss, Kostyuk showed she still had more in her bag after flaunting her devised counter to Swiatek’s forehand topspin.

In a jaw-dropping display of shot-making, Kostyuk surprised Swiatek with a barrage of flat, deep baseline shots that pushed her back out of her comfort zone.

Kostyuk put just the right amount of power and speed on her shots, targeting Swiatek’s wide angle on the forehand side with insane flat-ball returns.

Swiatek never recovered and played catch-up for the rest of the second set, en route to Kostyuk’s clinical fourth-round win that set up a quarterfinal duel with Elina Svitolina.

Kostyuk capped the impressive victory with 79 total points won, including five aces, seven break points, and 34 return points.