Defending champ Swiatek bows out of US Open

NEW YORK -- Defending champion and No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek lost to Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round of the US Open on Sunday night.

Swiatek's New York run ended with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 loss to Jelena Ostapenko, a defeat that also means Swiatek's stay at No. 1 in the WTA rankings will end next week, when current No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka will rise to the top spot for the first time.

Swiatek's shots were off-target in Arthur Ashe Stadium and she had a difficult time handling the hard hitting from the 20th-seeded Ostapenko, who won the 2017 French Open.

This was not necessarily a huge surprise, based on their previous matchups: Ostapenko has now improved to 4-0 against Swiatek over their careers. No other player owns four victories against the woman who has led the WTA rankings since April 2022.

Ostapenko's first quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows will come against Coco Gauff, the 19-year-old American who eliminated Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 earlier Sunday.

The loss comes less than a week after she opened the tournament with a dominant performance, defeating unseeded Rebecca Peterson of Sweden 6-0, 6-1, last Monday. But she did mention after that win that she felt her tank was "pretty empty" after losing in the Montreal and Cincinnati semifinals earlier this month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.